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Lushan quake surviver kills self after son, 5, dies

By Zhang Yiwei (Global Times)

13:25, June 19, 2013

A grief-stricken woman was found to have committed suicide Monday following the death of her 5-year-old son, who fell into a toilet pit in the quake-stricken Lushan county, Sichuan Province.

Zhang Zhirong, who lived in Longmen township, was racked with guilt after she failed to save her son, Fu Si'ao, when he slipped into the toilet. She killed herself by drinking pesticide Sunday, the first case of suicide that has happened in the disaster area, China News Service reported Tuesday.

Zhang and Fu returned home from temporary camps on April 26, six days after the 7.0-magnitude quake. Fu went to the toilet by himself but slipped, and when Zhang tried to save her son, she also fell in. Zhang's husband and neighbors rescued her, but her son did not survive. It was initially believed the toilet block had collapsed and crushed the boy during an aftershock, but a local authority investigation found this was not so.

Chen Gang, head of the township, told the China News Service that Zhang intended to commit suicide after her son's accident. Local authorities had calmed her down, and she was given psychological counseling.

"Doctors offered psychological aid after the accident, and the government also did a lot of work," Chen said. "But we are busy on reconstruction and it's impossible to watch her all day long."

Liao Yongkang, a Party official from the Department of Civil Affairs of Sichuan Province, told the Global Times that psychological counseling can easily be overlooked by local authorities during the ongoing pressured reconstruction process in the disaster area.

"The main focus of local authorities is on reconstruction, while follow-up measures for psychological aid can be lacking, even though the interventions were conducted promptly when the quake just hit the area," Liao said.

Wang Ye, a psychologist from the West China Hospital in Chengdu, who counseled victims in the Lushan area, said that more professional psychologists are needed to provide counseling after earthquakes, even though doctors are stationed in every town.

"Psychological counseling centers are not widespread enough," Wang said. "They should be set up in every village. Some villages are in the mountains and we can't even reach them."

Compared with the 8.0-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, counseling services following the Lushan quake were provided more promptly, Wang said, adding that doctors specializing in trauma therapy are much needed.

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