A family in Hunan Province is suing Xiangtan County traffic and civil affairs authorities, claiming their dereliction of duty led to the death of their son after he was injured in a traffic accident.

The family said traffic police and a civil affairs official refused to investigate the road accident or offer help after receiving reports on the 29-year-old, the local Xiaoxiang Morning Newspaper reported yesterday.

The man was discovered frozen to death at the roadside in snow on March 12, five days after the mishap, the newspaper said.

The xiangtan Public Security Bureau has started an investigation.

The saga began on March 7 when Zhang Hengsheng, a resident of Hengyang City, was walking along National Highway 107.

The newspaper said the man had fled home after a quarrel with his father on March 3. Zhang had a college degree but no job.

About 9:30pm, he was hit by a motorcycle on the highway in Cha'ensi Town of Xiangtan County, but the cyclist fled the scene. Zhang suffered fractures in both legs.

A villager named Peng Shuping near the site called the county's police hot line five minutes later but was referred to the county traffic police. When Peng got through there he was given another number of traffic police in charge of the town. Peng tried the number thrice but to no avail.

The county's traffic police department told the newspaper they got no traffic accident reports on March 7 up to 11:30pm.

"Peng must have dialed a wrong number," officer Liu Guangzheng said.

Peng and another man, who ran a bicycle repair shop nearby, moved Zhang under a roadside tree, covered him with dry grass and went home.

The next morning, Luo Dongmei, a 60-year-old woman, found Zhang drinking from a paddy pond and fetched village clinic owner Jiang Donglin who bandaged him. Zhang told Jiang his name and home number.

Then Jiang told the town police station officer Guo Xuejun about Zhang. The station is about 2 kilometers from the accident site. The station didn't send officers to the scene, but called the county traffic police department about the traffic accident.

Liu said a traffic policeman went to the scene but didn't find Zhang or see anything unusual.

Guo also gave Jiang the contact number of Wang Qingwen, head of the Cha'ensi Town civil affairs office.

Wang allegedly told Jiang to call his office after "Zhang dies."

Wang, however, denied this on March 22.

Jiang then called Zhang's home on March 8 but got no answer.

The next few days, local villagers sent Zhang food and raincoat, but no officials visited him.
During the time it rained and the temperatures plunged to as low as minus 3 degrees Celsius.

(Shanghai Daily March 25, 2005)