A boy drowned in a river in Chongqing on Sunday after a passing man refused to help rescue him unless he was paid 1,000 yuan (US$120), reports Xinhua.

Li Xin and Xiaoqiang slipped into the water while they were playing near the river with some other classmates.

A boy on the bank asked a young man walking by for help. But the man, Sheng, said they must pay him 1,000 yuan first.

Xiaoqiang was eventually saved by a fishing boat on the river, but Li Xin died. When the boys later led a reporter to confront Sheng, he explained that he had only been kidding, because he "could not swim at all".

But the boys and some neighbours said they had often seen Sheng swimming in the river before.

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