China father separated from 3 children when train leaves during smoke break
A father in China became separated from his three children when he alighted the train for a smoke break.
The incident occurred in Hubei Province on 9 Jan.
Mr Wu (pseudonym) from Jiangxi brought his three children by high-speed rail to visit their grandparents.
The train stopped temporarily at Danjiangkou station at around 2.17pm. Mr Wu took this time to alight for a smoke.
Source: Baidu
Amidst the din of alighting passengers, Mr Wu failed to hear the announcement about the train’s imminent departure.
As such, the father could only watch helplessly as the train pulled away from the station with his three kids and their luggage on board.
He became extremely anxious, stamping his feet and even slapping himself in self-blame.
“It’s all my fault that I couldn’t resist going for a smoke, what am I supposed to do now that I’ve lost my kids?”
The train station staff noticed the distraught father and went to talk to him.
After learning about the situation, the staff took down the details about the seat and luggage locations of the children.
They contacted the train conductor and requested that the three young passengers and their language be handed over to an attendant at the next station in the city of Shiyan.
Since the next train to the city was hours later, Mr Wu took the advice of the station staff and took a taxi there instead.
When he hurriedly arrived at the train station, the family reunited safely in the waiting hall.
Netizens blame father for irresponsible actions
Chinese netizens on Weibo heavily criticised Mr Wu after reading about the situation.
“Leaving three of your children behind to leave the train for a smoke is quite the shocking behaviour,” one of them commented.
Source: Weibo
“Nowadays, communication networks are convenient, the Internet is developed, and high-speed rail stations have good staff. If it were the past, those kids would be gone.”
However, a netizen found the story heartwarming and wrote, “A father’s love is like a mountain.”
A witty commenter replied to them, saying, “A father’s love is like second-hand smoke.”
Source: Weibo
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Featured image adapted from Jiupai News on Weibo.
