One person died... How can an internet celebrity project become a "deadly" project? Two tourists fall into Qiandao Lake and fly fish | Project | Tourists

Recently, a 28 year old Fujian tourist accidentally fell into the water while experiencing the internet famous "Flying Fish" project in Qiandao Lake, Zhejiang, causing widespread social attention.

The investigation by reporters found that the project has a high risk coefficient and the involved enterprises have safety hazards. The summer season is approaching, and relevant people are calling for safety to be the bottom line of water entertainment projects. It is urgent to establish relevant regulatory standards for new forms of water related amusement projects, and be cautious of internet celebrity projects becoming "deadly" projects.

Qiandao Lake Happy Water World, which is closed for business. Photo by Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Ma Jian

Two tourists accidentally fell into the water and one died

At around 15:40 on June 3rd, six tourists were experiencing a water amusement project called "Flying Fish" in Qiandao Lake, Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province. Two male tourists fell into the water one after another, and one of them drowned due to being washed away by a rapids.

As a witness to the accident, tourist Fu Feihu, who boarded the "Flying Fish", told reporters that the entire "Flying Fish" project had a round-trip journey of 6 kilometers. When the six of them were about 1.5 kilometers away from the departure point on their return journey, two colleagues fell into the water one after another.

"When the first colleague fell into the water, we shouted desperately, but the motorboat driver who was dragging us forward did not hear us and continued to drive for more than 100 meters. Later, another colleague fell into the water, but the driver had not heard us continue to drive. Finally, in order to attract the driver's attention, I automatically fell into the water, and the entire 'flying fish' became lighter. The driver felt something unusual before stopping the motorboat. At this point, it was already over 200 meters away from the first person who fell into the water. Fu Feihu said that the victim was the second person who was about to fall into the water. He had tightly grasped the 'flying fish', but the rapid flow of water brought by the motorboat caused his life jacket and pants to be damaged." They all washed away and unfortunately died in the end.

Bao Shuwei, Deputy Captain of the Water Police Brigade of Chun'an County Public Security Bureau, said that about 12 minutes after the incident, they received an alarm that tourists from Qiandao Lake Happy Water World had fallen into the water and disappeared. By the time we arrived at the scene of the incident, the person was nowhere to be found. With the continuous salvage efforts of multiple rescue teams, the victims were rescued at 14:03 the next day at a distance of about 40 meters from the drowning point.

When the reporter arrived at the Qiandao Lake Happy Water World where the incident occurred recently, the staff who were checking the safety of life jackets stated that the water park equipment is currently being maintained and updated, and it is not open to the public for the time being. "After the incident, we requested the companies involved to suspend operations for rectification and conduct a comprehensive safety inspection of the water entertainment facilities in the entire county," said Miao Baojun, Chief Engineer of Chun'an County Emergency Management Bureau.

Qiandao Lake Happy Water World, which is closed for business. Photo by Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Ma Jian

There are many risks buried behind "chance"

During the interview, staff members from relevant departments in Chun'an County repeatedly emphasized to the reporter that as long as they put on life jackets, falling into the water is okay, and this incident was only an accidental event, so there is no need to make a big deal out of it. But the investigation by reporters found that the "Flying Fish" project itself has a high risk coefficient, and if you don't tighten the safety rope a little, it is easy to fall off the water surface.

It is understood that as an exciting water project imported from abroad, the rubber boat "Flying Fish", which is towed by high-speed motorboats, is towed behind like a kite. When the speed of the motorboat is fast, the head of the "flying fish" will curl up, and even fly almost perpendicular to the water surface, posing a higher risk of tourists falling into the water.

"The distance between the motorboat and the rubber boat is about 50 meters, and the driver and tourists cannot be contacted during the game. It is entirely based on the driver's experience and the rearview mirror on the motorboat to observe whether the tourists have fallen onto the water surface." said the relevant person in charge of Qiandao Lake One Water Amusement Company.

It is worth noting that at the time of the accident, only the driver was on the scene for rescue, while the other rescue personnel were about 1 kilometer away. Due to the lack of communication equipment, tourists, drivers, and shore management personnel have lost contact with each other and are unable to carry out rescue operations in a timely manner.

In fact, there were only a few rescue workers in the entire amusement park area. "This business area covers an area of 240000 square meters, with a peak flow of 1000 people during the same period. Currently, it is equipped with 5 certified rescue personnel." Zheng Yuejun, the head of the Industry Management Department of Chun'an County Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau, said that due to the lack of corresponding industry standards, they refer to the standard for swimming pool lifeguards and require the company to equip at least 5 lifeguards.

The reporter saw on platforms such as Dianping that many tourists reported that the amusement park could not receive timely rescue after being submerged, and there were loopholes in the safety management of the venue. A user left a message saying, "There are actually no management personnel in the middle of the lake. In case of an accident, we probably won't be able to detect it, which is a safety hazard." "Those who don't know how to water should not come to play. They fell into the water and called for help for a long time, but no lifeguards came to save them. Fortunately, friends and a kind-hearted guy saved their lives..."

Summer vacation is approaching, and tourism in Qiandao Lake is also entering its peak season. How to ensure the experience and personal safety of tourists is testing the operational ability and management level of 13 water amusement venues in the county.

"On the day of the incident, there were quite a few tourists, and there was no one at the amusement park to guide or check whether the six of us were wearing life jackets properly. The first person to fall into the water wore a life jacket with a shoulder strap that was half broken, but he didn't pay attention at the time, and the management personnel didn't come to check if our life jackets were damaged. They urged us to play quickly, especially impatient," said Fu Feihu.

Local industry insiders admit that during the peak tourism season, it is not ruled out that some drivers may accelerate the completion of thrilling and exciting projects to shorten the travel time of tourists. However, as the speed increases, the safety factor also decreases accordingly.

Prevent thrilling projects from turning into tragic lives

Has a safety assessment been conducted for the "flying fish" type of water play projects? Do the involved enterprises have relevant business qualifications? In response to these questions, officials from the Emergency Management Bureau and the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Chun'an County stated that due to the fact that the project in question belongs to a new tourism industry and lacks industry standard guidance, they only evaluated the safety of the "Flying Fish" product and did not evaluate the safety of the project itself. In fact, under the joint review of multiple departments, 11 local water amusement companies have been allowed to operate the "Flying Fish" amusement project.

In a business license issued by the Market Supervision Administration of Chun'an County in April 2018, the reporter saw that the involved company's business scope includes banana boats, kayaks, water sofa drifting, water flying experience, motorboats and other business projects, with a business period from April 28, 2014 to April 27, 2034, and no "flying fish" business was found. "The 'Flying Fish' project was only introduced in 2021, so it may not have been reflected in its business scope," said the relevant person in charge of the Chun'an County Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau.

In recent years, thrilling and thrilling amusement projects have become the traffic code for scenic spots to attract tourists, but security risks and hidden dangers have also emerged. The reporter found that not only Qiandao Lake in Zhejiang, but also in recent years, there have been incidents of "flying fish" projects causing deaths in Shenzhen, Guangdong, Ruzhou, Henan and other places. How to standardize the management of thrilling and stimulating projects that have emerged in Inner Lake has become an urgent task.

"We hope that relevant national departments can quickly introduce guiding standards for safety management of upstream water parks and new forms of entertainment projects," said local grassroots officials.

"This accident exposed multiple safety production loopholes in various aspects. It is recommended that relevant government departments strengthen risk assessment of new business formats and establish operational safety standards. Enterprises should learn from lessons and strengthen their safety management level. Relevant industries should be widely investigated, strengthened early warning, and resolutely prevent safety risks." said Zhang Anbang, associate professor at Zhejiang University of Business and Technology.