Fri, August 05, 2011
SHANGHAI - The parents of 2-year-old Xiang Weiyi - the last survivor pulled from the wreckage of July's high-speed rail crash - were given their final respects at a funeral home in Wenzhou early on Thursday morning.
The funeral home, which can usually accommodate 200 people, was packed with more than 1,000 people, including the deceased couple's relatives, friends and colleagues.
Xiang Yu'an and Shi Lihong were killed on July 23 when a high-speed train crashed into the rear of another train stalled on the tracks near Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. The accident left 40 dead and 191 injured.
Xiang and Shi were working at the Wenzhou Ouhai district's education bureau and the Wenzhou Vocational College of Science and Technology.
Many local residents, who had never met the couple, also came to the funeral home to express their sorrow.
The couple's daughter, Xiang Weiyi, was rescued after being trapped in the wreckage for 21 hours.
She is still under treatment at Wenzhou's Yuying Children's Hospital and did not attend the funeral.
Doctors said she is in a stable condition, and after a successful operation, her left leg, which was badly injured in the crash, will not have to be amputated.
She is also suffering from some mental trauma, a doctor said, and she still does not know that her parents are dead.
"She often asks where her parents are. We have to try to evade the question," said a nurse.
Although they were not at the funeral, millions of netizens expressed sympathy and grief online. They also expressed their best wishes to Xiang Weiyi.
"The couple were so young, which makes my heart hurt even harder," said a netizen named Zhanglin.
Another netizen called Chanjianqingquan said: "Lives can disappear so easily. The little girl has to bear the trauma for the rest of her life. How hard it will be for her!"
