Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
Two popular officials involved in poverty alleviation projects are feared dead after dashcam video from a parked car captured the moment their vehicle plunged into a river.
He Xiaohong, 37, and his assistant Li Zhiying, 46, have yet to be found since their SUV crashed into a tree and was driven into the waters of the Nujiang River on 22nd October.
The pair working for the poverty alleviation office of the state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation had just concluded a week-long visit to the county of Fugong, in Nujiang prefecture in south-western China’s Yunnan Province, and were on their way home when the suspected accident happened.
Officials involved in the ongoing search and rescue operation said they had not given up hope of finding the pair, but as police and the fire service scan the river for a fourth day, fears are growing that the two colleagues may not have survived the accident.
Their white SUV was last seen on the parked car’s dashcam which showed them driving on a rural mountain road when their vehicle suddenly crashes into a tree and plunges over the edge into the Nujiang River.
The China Telecom officials involved in the planning, funding and execution of poverty alleviation projects for some of the province’s poorest areas were among four sent to Fugong County on 16th October.
Two of their colleagues left early, and Mr He and Ms Li were travelling back to their office when the incident happened. According to local media, they are popular with local villagers due to their poverty alleviation work.
The authorities said they were unable to determine from the limited evidence exactly what happened to their vehicle.
It was also unclear at the time of writing which of the China Telecom colleagues was behind the wheel of the car when it crashed into the river.
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