10 college students save two drowning boys at big cost of their own lives

On October 24, ten students of Hubei-based Yangtze University jumped into the river together to save two drowning boys. Finally, the two boys were saved, but three of the students drowned in the process.

In the ancient city of Jingzhou, another group of heroes emerged at Yangtze University, the alma mater of Zhao Chuanyu, who in the past saved a person from the river water. On October 24, more than ten students from Hubei-based Yangtze University jumped into the river together to save two drowning boys. Finally, the two boys were saved, but three of the university students drowned in the process.

Site of the tragic accident

At about 2 pm on October 24, two boys on banks of the Baota River, Jingzhou, unfortunately slipped into the water. As soon as they saw what was happening, more than ten students from Yangtze University, who happened to be playing nearby, came to the spot and rapidly jumped into the river to save the two boys. Due to the fact that most of the university students could not swim, they decided to form a ladder with one student holding another's feet to save the boys.

One of the drowning boys was soon returned to the bank and the other one was being pushed to the shore by the students. At that time however, an unexpected thing happened: one of the students that was forming the ladder lost his grip on his classmate as he became more and more tired. All people in the water were immediately in chaos. At that time, some members from a winter swimming team, who were 100 meters away from the Baota River, came to help in the rescue. Several team members, surnamed Yang, Han and Lu, and others, saved six of the students successively, but three students, Chen Jishi, He Dongxu and Fang Zhao, were swept away in the torrents of the river.

As soon as the accident happened, Yangtze University leaders rapidly rushed to the spot. Local fire fighting and maritime officials also successively arrived to organize the rescue. Because the place where the accident happened is located at a re-circulating flow area in the river, the fast-flowing river is about four to five meters deep at the shallowest point and more then ten meters deep at the deepest place. After an over one-hour rescue, Chen was pulled out of the river. Medical staff on the spot tried every means to save his life. Unfortunately however, Chen sacrificed his young life at last due to the fact that he had been trapped underwater for too long. The bodies of the other two students were not found until about 5:50 pm that day.

According to witnesses, when people were busy saving the drowning students, the two boys saved by the university students had left the spot.

Having learned of the brave behaviors of these university students, Ying Daiming, secretary of the CPC Jingzhou Municipal Committee, and mayor Wang Xiangxi expressed their gratitude to these students and required relevant municipal authorities to properly carry out their follow-up work.

Translated by LOTO