Suicide Reveals Cult's 'Evil Nature' ( 01/31/2001)
2004-03-09 11:53
The suicide attempts of seven Falun Gong
practitioners at
Tian'anmen Square on January 23 demonstrate the "evil nature" of the
cult and "sounded an alarm to those obsessed" with it, Xinhua news
agency said yesterday.
The official news agency made the comment in a long feature story
describing the event, which happened on the eve of the Chinese Lunar
New Year in central Beijing.
The central and local televisions yesterday evening broadcast camera
footage of followers engulged in flame and police rushing to put
them out with fire extinguishers. They also aired interviews of two
survivors, including a 12-year-old girl in a Beijing hospital.
Five Falun Gong practitioners soaked themselves in gasoline and set
themselves on fire at around 2:40 p.m. and one died on the spot and
the four others injured in the suicide attempts, Xinhua reported.
The police on duty rushed to their rescue and immediately sent the
injured to a local hospital.
Another two were found and stopped from the suicide attempts.
At 2:41 p.m., a man in his 40s sitting cross-legged at Tian'anmen
Square was found pouring liquid over his body from a green bottle.
All of a sudden, his body burst into flames and was covered with
thick smoke. "Falun Dafa is compulsory to all," the man was
screaming.
A few minutes later, three women and a girl who were not far from
the man set themselves on fire. Blown by the cold winter wind, the
flames immediately spread, turning them into scurrying fireballs in
horrible screams.
"Uncle, help!" cried a short, slim girl on fire when police rushed
towards them. Almost simultaneously, on the northeastern side of the
square, a woman took out a plastic Sprite bottle, drank a few
mouthfuls of the liquid, and then poured it on herself. Police on
duty, who were alert at the strong smell of gasoline, were quick to
seize her lighter and stopped her from burning herself. The woman
kept yelling "let me go to heaven."
On the western side of the square, a man, looking agitated and with
the buttons of his overcoat unfastened, was discovered with two full
bottles of gasoline tied to his body. Police also prevented him from
setting himself ablaze.
It took one minute and a half for police to put out the fire on the
four famales. However, one woman died and the other three, including
the 12-year-old girl, were seriously burned.
Three emergency ambulances of the Beijing First-aid Center arrived
at the site less than seven minutes later and rushed the injured to
the prestigious Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Xinhua reported.
A rescue team was formed and special wards were prepared for
around-the-clock monitoring. Doctors and nurses on holiday returned
to work immediately.
Thanks to the efforts of the doctors, all the injured have passed
the shock stage, Xinhua said.
Police investigation showed that the seven people who attempted
suicide were from Kaifeng City in central China's Henan Province.
They were all avid Falun Gong practitioners.
The dead woman, Liu Chunling, had been obsessed with Falun Gong
herself and persuaded her 12-year-old daughter Liu Siying to pursue
the cult.
Wang Jindong, the organizer, started practicing Falun Gong in 1996.
Wang and his wife and kid came to Tian'anmen Square on December 19,
2000, to propagate Falun Gong with banners.
Hao Huijun, a music teacher with a middle school in Kaifeng, has
become silent and absent-minded since 1997 when she started
practicing Falun Gong. Influenced by Hao, her 19-year-old daughter
Chen Guo who studied Pipa, a traditional Chinese musical instrument,
in Beijing also practiced Falun Gong and was obsessed with the cult.
Liu Baorong, a textile factory worker who left her post due to an
industrial injury in 1984, began practicing Falun Gong in 1995.
"Everyone of us knew what we were going to do in Beijing before we
left Kaifeng," Liu confirmed, "We were prepared to set ourselves on
fire and going up to heaven.
"Li Hongzhi often mentioned in his 'scripture' and speeches that
there were still some people not 'standing out.' If I did not 'stand
out', I would not realize 'nirvana,"' said Liu, who believed that to
obtain "nirvana" was to go to heaven.
"It was a good thing to go to heaven," she said, "It took a mere
moment and one would not feel pain." For this purpose, Liu drank gasoline.
Li Chi, a chief doctor at the Beijing hospital, said that it was
still too early to say that all the injured were out of danger. They
will undergo further operations. The fire has severely debilitated
all of them and some of them will never be able to live on their own
in the future, Li added.
Tian'anmen Square on January 23 demonstrate the "evil nature" of the
cult and "sounded an alarm to those obsessed" with it, Xinhua news
agency said yesterday.
The official news agency made the comment in a long feature story
describing the event, which happened on the eve of the Chinese Lunar
New Year in central Beijing.
The central and local televisions yesterday evening broadcast camera
footage of followers engulged in flame and police rushing to put
them out with fire extinguishers. They also aired interviews of two
survivors, including a 12-year-old girl in a Beijing hospital.
Five Falun Gong practitioners soaked themselves in gasoline and set
themselves on fire at around 2:40 p.m. and one died on the spot and
the four others injured in the suicide attempts, Xinhua reported.
The police on duty rushed to their rescue and immediately sent the
injured to a local hospital.
Another two were found and stopped from the suicide attempts.
At 2:41 p.m., a man in his 40s sitting cross-legged at Tian'anmen
Square was found pouring liquid over his body from a green bottle.
All of a sudden, his body burst into flames and was covered with
thick smoke. "Falun Dafa is compulsory to all," the man was
screaming.
A few minutes later, three women and a girl who were not far from
the man set themselves on fire. Blown by the cold winter wind, the
flames immediately spread, turning them into scurrying fireballs in
horrible screams.
"Uncle, help!" cried a short, slim girl on fire when police rushed
towards them. Almost simultaneously, on the northeastern side of the
square, a woman took out a plastic Sprite bottle, drank a few
mouthfuls of the liquid, and then poured it on herself. Police on
duty, who were alert at the strong smell of gasoline, were quick to
seize her lighter and stopped her from burning herself. The woman
kept yelling "let me go to heaven."
On the western side of the square, a man, looking agitated and with
the buttons of his overcoat unfastened, was discovered with two full
bottles of gasoline tied to his body. Police also prevented him from
setting himself ablaze.
It took one minute and a half for police to put out the fire on the
four famales. However, one woman died and the other three, including
the 12-year-old girl, were seriously burned.
Three emergency ambulances of the Beijing First-aid Center arrived
at the site less than seven minutes later and rushed the injured to
the prestigious Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Xinhua reported.
A rescue team was formed and special wards were prepared for
around-the-clock monitoring. Doctors and nurses on holiday returned
to work immediately.
Thanks to the efforts of the doctors, all the injured have passed
the shock stage, Xinhua said.
Police investigation showed that the seven people who attempted
suicide were from Kaifeng City in central China's Henan Province.
They were all avid Falun Gong practitioners.
The dead woman, Liu Chunling, had been obsessed with Falun Gong
herself and persuaded her 12-year-old daughter Liu Siying to pursue
the cult.
Wang Jindong, the organizer, started practicing Falun Gong in 1996.
Wang and his wife and kid came to Tian'anmen Square on December 19,
2000, to propagate Falun Gong with banners.
Hao Huijun, a music teacher with a middle school in Kaifeng, has
become silent and absent-minded since 1997 when she started
practicing Falun Gong. Influenced by Hao, her 19-year-old daughter
Chen Guo who studied Pipa, a traditional Chinese musical instrument,
in Beijing also practiced Falun Gong and was obsessed with the cult.
Liu Baorong, a textile factory worker who left her post due to an
industrial injury in 1984, began practicing Falun Gong in 1995.
"Everyone of us knew what we were going to do in Beijing before we
left Kaifeng," Liu confirmed, "We were prepared to set ourselves on
fire and going up to heaven.
"Li Hongzhi often mentioned in his 'scripture' and speeches that
there were still some people not 'standing out.' If I did not 'stand
out', I would not realize 'nirvana,"' said Liu, who believed that to
obtain "nirvana" was to go to heaven.
"It was a good thing to go to heaven," she said, "It took a mere
moment and one would not feel pain." For this purpose, Liu drank gasoline.
Li Chi, a chief doctor at the Beijing hospital, said that it was
still too early to say that all the injured were out of danger. They
will undergo further operations. The fire has severely debilitated
all of them and some of them will never be able to live on their own
in the future, Li added.