Autistic Boy’s Death One of Many Linked to Squalid ‘Care Center’ in China
"Just how many Lei Wenfengs died in this care center, and why they died, should be investigated." Later on Monday, local officials announced
that they had shut the center in early March and had put four people in charge there under investigation after finding out about deaths in the center, according to official news reports.
By CHRIS BUCKLEY and ADAM WU MARCH 20, 2017
BEIJING — Squalid conditions at a "care center" for vagrants in southern China ignited public outrage on Monday after reports
that at least 21 people held there had died in just a few months, including an autistic boy who died after being given filthy food and water.
The head of Xinfeng County, where the care center is, said on Monday night
that officials still had no firm handle on how many people held there had died.
The newspaper said at least 20 other people held at the same care center for the homeless
had died so far this year, according to records from a nearby funeral home.
The problems at the care center in Shaoguan were just part of a chain of failings
that led to Wenfeng’s death, according to the news report and Mr. Lei’s online account of the search for his son.
"My son needn’t have died so inexplicably." Mr. Lei
and others have likened Wenfeng’s death to the notorious case of Sun Zhigang, who died in custody in Guangdong in 2003.