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)
