Seventh fatality in July prompts warning about illegal bathing

The drowning of a young man in Jingmi water channel on Tuesday night was the seventh death in the channel in July alone.

The 20-year-old man, named Ge Zhiyong, fell into the water near Qinglongqiao in Haidian district at around 8 pm, according to Mirror Evening News. His body was recovered and he was pronounced dead at 10:15 pm by Yiheyuan fire department and the Jingmi water channel management.

The report said Ge and his classmate Zhang Wei, both students from a nearby training school, decided to swim in the 2.8-m-deep channel after playing basketball despite there being a sign prohibiting it.

After their swim, Zhang discovered he had lost his mobile phone in the channel. Ge lay face down on the bank and tried to help his friend reach the cell phone. He fell in and drowned.

The case is currently under investigation. An officer from the Jinmi water channel management confirmed the death but refused to reveal more details.

Though it is not allowed to swim in reservoirs, water channels and other drinking water sources in the city, many people still risk their lives to do it.

Swimming in forbidden water areas accounts for around 20 lives every year in Beijing. Twenty-two people died in 2008, 18 lost their lives in 2009 and by July 12 the number had already reached 21 this year.

Zheng Qiuli, a press officer with the Beijing Water Authority said it is very difficult to prevent people from swimming in forbidden areas.

"Take Jingmi water channel as an example, the total length exceeds 100 km, it is impossible for us to deploy a supervisor every 50 meters," she told METRO on Wednesday.

Zheng said that most people who go swimming in these areas are not local residents.

"The summer in Beijing is very hot. Some migrant workers don't have air conditioners in their living places, so they prefer to cool down in nearby rivers to save some money and time," she said.

Since July this year, the Beijing Water Authority has made a determined effort to stop people swimming in rivers, water channels and reservoirs, including installing an extra 2,000 m of fences along the rivers, adding 2,000 warning signs and sending out 100,000 brochures.

Since July 1, around 9,000 people have been persuaded to leave the water when they were found swimming in places where they were not supposed to.

However, the Beijing water administration and law-enforcement office, which is responsible for keeping people out of the rivers, water channels and reservoirs, has only 50 to 60 workers, according to Zheng.