A Beijing court ruled on Wednesday that Beijing Subway must pay
800,000 yuan (about 110,000 U.S. dollars) in compensation to a man
who accidentally slipped off a platform and lost both legs when he
was run over by a train.
The People's Court in Xicheng District decided the subway
operator must pay Wu Hualin, a migrant worker from eastern Anhui
Province, 500,000 yuan to cover economic losses and 300,000 yuan
for mental distress.
Wu, a young garment dealer, fell off the platform at the
Nanlishilu subway station in downtown Beijing in September 2004 as
he was running to catch an arriving train. But he slipped onto the
tracks and was run over, losing both legs, and has since been
confined to a wheelchair.
Police said he should be responsible for the accident and the
Beijing Subway also refused to compensate him.
Wu sued Beijing Subway and demanded 1.5 million yuan in
compensation. The claim was rejected by a court in an initial trial
in November 2005. That court also ruled that Wu must pay court
costs, which were more than 10,000 yuan. A second trial in March
2006 upheld the earlier decision.
After Wu appealed, the No. 1 Intermediate People's Court
overturned the lower courts' actions and ordered a retrial.
Wu's lawyer, Jin Zhanliang, said he had offered to be defense
counsel for Wu. "The subway company should compensate the victim
unless it could prove he was trying to commit suicide. The company
did nothing wrong, but that doesn't mean it is not liable for the
accident."
But the defense lawyer for Beijing Subway, surnamed Wu, said the
organization might also appeal the latest verdict to a higher
court.
"This is unacceptable," he said. "The compensation is too high
-- after all, the subway company spends taxpayers' money." The
lawyer also said the public should draw a lesson from the tragedy
and exercise caution when using the transport system.
The plaintiff, Wu, said he had come to love Beijing in the past
three years and would stay here. "Many kind-hearted people here
have lent me a helping hand."
He and his wife now make a living by selling small items of
clothing and his own calligraphy -- a calligrapher has offered to
teach him for free.
Subway safety has long been a thorny issue. New routes have
shield doors on the platforms that open only after trains have
pulled to a halt, but there's no immediate plan to upgrade the two
oldest routes, Line 1 and Line 2, both running through the city
center.
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2008)