"But now, out of habit, I still sometimes call his name in class. But he is not there to stand up. He will never again be there," said Ms Lu, Gao's maths teacher, her eyes on the verge of tears.

The tragedy happened on March 23. An uncovered inspection well in the residential quarter cost the 11-year-old boy his life.

When pulled from the well the next morning, the boy's skin had already turned grey, with each hand grasping clumps of mud.

The cuts on his fingers indicated that the boy had struggled wildly to get out of the well, but failed.

A family nightmare

To Gao's family, everything was going smoothly until the afternoon of March 23, a Saturday. Their child was playing by himself near their home in Maosheng residential quarter on Qixin Lu in Minhang District.

At the back of the quarter was a temporary construction site without any protective fencing or walls.

The construction team from Shanghai Huamao Forestation Co is building a green belt in this residential quarter. A small shelter to house dustbins at the back corner of the lot needed to be pulled down to make way for the greenery.

So the team dug a big hole nearby to bury the ruins of the house.

However, as some items being kept inside the shed hadn't been moved out immediately by the property company, the construction team delayed their schedule, leaving the big well uncovered, without a fence, warning sign or or security guards.

After a whole week of collecting rain and ground water, the well had become a deadly trap with the water level inside over 2 metres deep.

The site was extremely dangerous, as people could easily slip on the soft land that surrounded the inspection pit.

Maybe out of curiosity, the small child wandered onto the construction site. Frantic parents searched for him until the next morning. A resident surnamed Miao living nearest the building saw a child floating on the water from her window.

"Such a big well at 2 metres wide and 2 metres deep, even adults falling into it would have found it difficult to get out, let alone an 11-year-old child," refuted Gao Rihui, the boy's father.

Lin Yaqing, the poor mother, after madly searching for the child for the whole night, collapsed immediately at the grievous news, remaining in bed since the event weeping for her son.

"Linjie was a good kid," she murmured. "Last year, when he won top prize in the national children's competition on calligraphy, I asked him what he wanted from me as reward. He said 'I want nothing. Dad is laid off. It is difficult for you to earn money'."

The invisible killer

The construction team has said that they did not think anyone would trespass near the well, as it wasn't located near an area were many people walked.

The construction team has also tried to shirk some of the responsibility to the property company of the residential quarter, complaining it was too slow in moving away the things inside the house, which resulted in the well remaining unfilled.

These excuses just don't explain the negligence that has resulted in the death of a child and left a painful scar on a family forever.

"If there had been fences around the construction site or signs warning of the danger, the boy would not have died," said Gao Rihui, while packing up her son's books and toys left behind in his room.

Both in civil law and the regulations drafted by the municipal government, there are clear stipulations that construction units must take special measures to warn people of possible danger. They are expected to set up fences, hang signs or assigning guards.

"However, such rules are regarded by some construction units as fussing over trifles," said Zhang Chi, professor from East China University of Politics and Law.

"Some just leave things to luck, thinking that most probably there won't be accidents, and many of these companies won't learn until big accidents occur."

The insufficient supervision from the relevant government sectors also contributes to these cases.

"We have a law, but we lack a supervisory body to guarantee the enforcement of the law," he added.

(Shanghai Star April 4, 2002)