Sewer search continues for student

Local authorities in Changsha, Hunan Province denied on Monday that they have called off the search for a 21-year-old student who disappeared after falling into the city's drainage system during a downpour on Friday.

After three days of fruitless searching, a district official from the city's Tianxin district said they had not given up looking for Yang Lijun, despite the slim chance she may still be alive, the news portal chinanews.com reported.

Yang fell into an uncovered sewer access while walking with a friend during a rainstorm Friday night. City officials said the sewer cover was washed away by torrents of runoff.

Many local residents gathered near the scene for a candlelight vigil for the woman Sunday night.

No government department in the city has yet accepted responsibility and the tragedy has triggered outrage, with the public raising pointed questions about why there are so many tragic accidents involving people falling into uncovered sewer holes in cities across the country.

Three people lost their lives after falling into uncovered sewer holes in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province in 2010. Two young men died from the same fate following a deluge that washed away a sewer cover in Beijing in 2011. An 11-year-old girl died after she was washed into a sewer access hole in Hainan Province in 2012.

A People's Daily commentary Monday blamed local authorities for failing to coordinate measures to deal with missing sewer covers, which usually involves several government departments with different areas of responsibility.

"The accidents are caused by irresponsible officials who put ordinary people at risk while putting their careers first," said Zhu Lijia, professor of public administration at the Chinese Academy of Governance.

China National Radio reported Monday that residents near where Friday's accident occurred have often complained about sewer covers being washed away during rainstorms and not even warning signs are posted near the uncovered sewers.

"Some officials just ignore these types of complaints because dealing with them is not part of their evaluation for promotion," Zhu told the Global Times, adding that the fervent pursuit of personal interest among officials and the mismanagement within some departments are all to blame for the negligence.

Yuan Yulai, a lawyer in Zhejiang Province, told the Global Times that the reason behind the long-existing safety issue is because officials are not chosen by local residents, "but it is the ordinary people who suffer from the negligence of officials."

Zhu said that the local government is undeniably responsible for the accident, "but what's more important is forcing departments to use their power to benefit the public; otherwise, similar accidents will continue to surface in the future."