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| Photo taken on Jan. 4, 2013 shows the fire accident site in Lankao County, central China's Henan Province. A spokesman for the Lankao county government said the fire, which broke out around 8:30 a.m., was contained within two hours. Four children died at the scene of the fire, while another three perished on their way to a local hospital. The house is apparently a private orphanage, as local residents said a woman named Yuan Lihai has used the home to shelter orphans and abandoned children. (Xinhua/Zhu Xiang) |
The county government knew that Yuan had been illegally housing children who had nowhere else to go for over two decades, as media reports had made her somewhat of a local celebrity. Lankao police even took children they found on the streets to her.
In defense of their actions, officials with the civil administration department of the Lankao County government said the "strong family ties that have developed among them" meant authorities could not take the children from Yuan and send them to official orphanages in nearby cities.
However, government officials and law enforcement officers should know better than anyone that the law knows no kindness. Those who bent the law "in Yuan's favor," in fact, simply saved themselves the trouble of handling the children.
Moreover, media reports were negligent in reports on Yuan published prior to the fire. They framed Yuan as a philanthropic woman and hailed the 48-year-old former street peddler as the "Mother with a Loving Heart."
Few reports touched on the failures of the local adoption system or questioned whether Yuan was qualified to "adopt" so many children, many of whom were disabled, a few of whom were albino and a couple others who were, in fact, over the age of 18.
Temperatures recorded since the end of November have marked the lowest to hit China in 28 years
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