Superstitious residents of an apartment building in China were labelled heartless by netizens, after they refused the removal of a dead man’s body via the property’s lift and staircase.
The residents were gripped by superstitious beliefs and morbid thoughts after a construction worker fell to his death from the 16th storey while working on the facade of the building in Wuhan city in China’s Hubei province on Monday (Feb 21).
The Chutian Metropolis Daily reported that the worker, who was in his 50s, landed on a patio on the third floor of the highrise building after losing his balance on the ladder.
The retrieval of his body hit a snag after the building management and residents, who feared getting bad luck, reportedly told funeral parlour workers that it would be “inauspicious” to do so from within their premises.
Global Times reported: “As staff from the local funeral parlour came to carry down the body, several property owners in nearby apartments demanded that it shouldn’t go through the stairs, elevators or the main part of the building, citing superstitious beliefs.”
Thus, the victim’s family had to call firefighters to remove his body from the outside, using a pulley to lower him to the ground.
After residents heaved a sigh of relief, netizens unleashed their fury at the apartment residents for having no sympathy for the dead man and his family in the tragic incident.
According to South China Morning Post, one netizen wondered whether the building is inhabited by people who are totally indifferent and whether their attitude reflects that of society as a whole.
That comment garnered more than 6,000 “likes”.
Some social media users also hoped the victim would return to haunt the insensitive occupants.
chenj@sph.com.sg
