[Epoch Times, October 29, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Luo Ya interviewed and reported) During the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, large-scale forest fires broke out in Guangxi, Hunan and other provinces in mainland China. Among them, the Hunan mountain fires continued to be extinguished. It is said that the rescue operation of the Hunan mountain fire has been directly taken over by Beijing.
During the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Lu media completely silenced the news of the forest fire. It was not until the evening of the 25th that the media began to report that two firefighters died. However, the death toll from the firefighting was questioned, and the live broadcast of the people in Xintian, Yongzhou, Hunan Province, was interrupted, and the relevant news was blocked by the entire network.
Former media person: Half of Yongzhou’s Xintian County was surrounded by wildfires and burned for seven days and seven nights
Zhao Lanjian, a former mainland media person, introduced to The Epoch Times on the 28th that the forest fire in Hunan started on October 17th, and almost half of the county was surrounded by the fire. “(The fire) burned for 7 days and 7 nights. , and multiple platforms have deleted all relevant information.”
The Epoch Times reporter found that the Hunan local government website had published an article on October 19 titled “Hunan Provincial Forest Fire Fighting Headquarters reports a forest fire in Banziqiao Village, Menlouxia Yao Township, Yongzhou County…” report, but the click-through page shows a “404”.
According to information circulating on the overseas Internet, the video of the mountain fire in Guangxi first appeared on the Internet on the 17th. The forest fire in Xintian County, Yongzhou, Hunan is believed to have burned all the way from Xing’an, Guilin, Guangxi.
Zhao Lanjian introduced that the rescue has now been taken over by Beijing, which is regulated and directed by Beijing. Hunan reported to the central government on the afternoon of October 24, and more than 80 military vehicles came from Beijing, including the Yunnan ace fire brigade. At present, the fire has not been controlled, and all the towns of Xintianmenlouxia and Jinling have been burnt out. The fire spread over a large area and burned in the direction of Qiyang.
The live broadcast of the huge mourning parade was cut off and blocked from the entire network
Zhao Lanjian disclosed that not only the severity of the fire was covered up, but also the news of the huge mourning event held by the two firefighters who died fighting the fire was also controlled. The live broadcast of the memorial service must have been organized with the permission of the government. The memorial service was held in the morning, and then all the videos were deleted at noon.”
“The government only allows locals to spread in a small area, and it can’t be spread outside. All (mainland) news and headlines are not on it,” he said.
Regarding this large-scale parade and mourning, the mainland Caixin website reported on the evening of the 25th that a forest fire broke out on October 17. The fire has been burning for a week and has not been completely extinguished. At 9 am on the 25th, the public held a memorial service to commemorate the dead firefighters and “send them home”.
Regarding the scale and momentum of the mighty see-off procession in the parade and mourning, Caixin.com’s report just understated it, saying that local residents uploaded videos and pictures showing that “many local residents gathered on both sides of the road to see off the two firefighters.”
Related videos and pictures of the scene leaked online show that a large number of local people crowded the road, and many people also held large mourning banners together, and the team was huge. From a height, the banners are densely packed, and the procession is endless. There are also people holding flowers on both sides of the road.
The video of the huge parade and mourning event also shocked netizens, who asked: “When did it happen? We have no news at all”, “How come we never got it?”
Official firefighting death toll questioned
In the video that has been sent overseas, the parade is walking, and some people are starting to walk faster and faster. Zhao Lanjian said, “I believe that there must be other villagers in the local area who were also burned to death, so there will be such a huge parade with such an angry crowd, and this parade is very large.”
“But with such a big battle, can you see this news on the domestic media Internet? All those you can’t see have been deleted.
“I’m sure that the people themselves felt a sense of grievance. It may also be the family members or relatives of these people. His house may have been burned down, and his relatives may have died.”
The Epoch Times reporter randomly called several companies and institutions including Xinxiang Township Tourism Company, express delivery company and school, but many calls went unanswered.
A local Mr. Chen from Yongzhou confirmed to the Epoch Times reporter, “A lot of soldiers have sacrificed. If the common people are killed or injured, it is impossible for him to post it in the news.” When the reporter asked again, the other party immediately hung up the phone.
A local person working on the mountain in Xintian, Hunan told reporters that the top of the mountain where they were located was not burned, but the edge of the mountain was burned. They helped evacuate the local population. “Our fire was extinguished on the 26th. The wildfire had a certain impact on local houses, and some houses were indeed burned down.”
Regarding the casualties of the people, the other party said, “The local government is in charge of this matter, and we have nothing else to say.”
Regarding the information of the two sacrificed firefighters, Caixin used “confirmation from multiple sources” and emphasized that they were aid workers from other places, namely Cai Maoqiang, firefighters from the Wenchuan County Squadron of the Aba Prefecture Detachment of Sichuan Forest Fire Brigade, and Wenchuan County Squadron, Huaihua City. Xiao Jianqiang, a member of the forest fire rescue team organized by the Forestry Bureau.
A staff member of the local Xinxiang County Hospital told The Epoch Times that there are currently no burn patients in the fire in their hospital, and they have all been transferred to other hospitals because of their illness.
Zhao Lanjian disclosed that three more firefighters from Xiangya Hospital have died in China.
Netizen: finally reported
Regarding Caixin.com’s report, a mainland netizen surnamed Xu said, “Finally, it is reported that the Hunan mountain fire lasted for several days, and two firefighters died.” The post circulated in the circle of friends.
A netizen surnamed Xu said that he “saw a fire in Guilin a few days ago, and the scale was still very large. Watching the video was like the end of the day. There was no new news for a few days, and I thought the fire was out. It’s on fire.”
The netizen also said that not only Xintian County, but also Guiyang County, Yizhang County, and Yongxing County in Chenzhou, Hunan, have wildfires. “I saw that many houses were burned.”
“There was no media coverage before, and the attention was not enough. Now, after Caixin.com reported it, the attention has increased. I hope to be as united as Chongqing and put out the mountain fire as soon as possible.”
On October 27, the Central Broadcasting Network, the party media, only reported the news that the two killed firefighters were posthumously regarded as martyrs, but did not mention much about the scale of the forest fire and the damage it caused.
In addition, according to video pictures from the mainland, there were also wildfires in Wuyun Town, Ganxian District, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, and Yongjia County, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, but related news was also controlled on the mainland network.
Responsible editor: Li Qiong