Man who jumped from Sichuan hotel's 15th floor is 2nd official to kill himself
Psychologists have warned that the period three to six months after a major disaster can be particularly difficult and the government has arranged counselling and training for hundreds of local leaders. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING: A Chinese official at the heart of the Sichuan earthquake zone has committed suicide, a setback for reconstruction work and a sign of the ongoing emotional toll from the disaster as an unusually harsh winter sets in.
The news came as China announced yesterday that it would spend nearly three trillion yuan (S$672 billion) - triple the amount previously pledged - by 2010 on rebuilding the quake-hit province.
Mr He Zonghua jumped from a 15th-floor hotel room in the centre of a city that became a teeming refugee camp after the May 12 disaster which killed more than 80,000 and left 1.8 million homeless, the official Xinhua news agency said.
He was the second quake official to kill himself in two months.
A third died from a burst artery caused by overwork, the China Daily said, as depression, stress and the challenges of rebuilding create a perfect storm of psychological pressure.
Psychologists have warned that the period three to six months after a major disaster can be particularly difficult and the government has arranged counselling and training for hundreds of local leaders.
The latest victim was human resources head in the general office of the government of Mianyang, one of the worst-hit regions during the quake. He had suffered from severe depression and complained of insomnia and bad health. Colleagues also said he appeared anxious, though he did not lose any relatives in the quake.
China won praise for a rapid response from both the government and ordinary citizens. But many in the quake zone are overworked as they grapple with the mundane but painful task of rebuilding in an area hit by regular aftershocks.
Last month, Mr Dong Yufei, an agriculture and disaster relief director of the Beichuan county in Mianyang, also killed himself out of pressure and depression. Mr Dong, 40, lost his 12-year-old son and other relatives in the quake. He hanged himself and left behind a note saying, 'I feel too much pressure from life and work every day. I cannot hold on any further'.
There is still a staggering amount of work to be done, said Mr Wei Hong, vice-governor of Sichuan province.
The most immediate concern is the especially cold winter forecast for the area. Some refugees are still living in tents with little insulation and others are struggling to get food and warm clothing, said Mr Wei.
China's three trillion yuan investment on rebuilding Sichuan - funded by the government, banks and the private sector - include 790 billion yuan for this year and 1.2 trillion yuan next year, Mr Wei told reporters at a briefing in Beijing.
The cash injection is part of Beijing's plan to expand domestic demand and boost economic growth. The overall spending will be larger than the total investment over the past 12 years in Sichuan, according to earlier Chinese media reports.
Mr Wei yesterday also released a detailed list which identified some 19,000 people who were killed in the quake.
Some 70,000 people were killed in the disaster and 18,000 people are still missing. The government still has not given a separate toll for children who were crushed when their shoddily built schools collapsed, but has said that about 7,000 classrooms were destroyed.
Their deaths have become a sensitive political issue, with parents staging protests demanding investigations.
