Wang Pan was 14, but because of his family’s poverty he had had to leave school to find a job in a textile factory. The authorities opened an investigation into his death, which ends with a fine of 10 thousand yuan (1,367 euro) against his employers.
Beijing (AsiaNews) - A 14 year old boy, forced to work as a laborer in a textile factory because of the poverty of his family, died in his sleep after working 11 hours a day for several weeks in a row. Wang Pan lived with his mother in Foshan, in the rich southern province of Guangdong: On the morning of April 10 he never awoke again. The doctors, who arrived in an ambulance, were unable to revive him.
Wang and his mother came from Hunan province. Forced to move to the south of the country two months ago, they were employed in the same factory. The shifts were an average of 11 or 12 hours, with frequent overtime to cover production needs. According to the woman, the boy came home and played on his computer. The family said that it was the exhausting shifts that killed him. According to the Yangcheng Evening News, after Wang's death, the factory laid off all child laborers.
The authorities have opened an investigation into the incident and fined the factory 10 thousand yuan (1,367 euro). Investigators said they "they found no evidence" of overtime. The public protested defining the punishment "too mild", but the investigators’ only response was that they had acted "according to the law." Some sources speak of an agreement between the factory owners and the family, for a value of 150 thousand yuan (20 thousand euro).