An incident from eight months ago detailing how a 4-year-old Chinese boy was saved after being thrown into a well to recreate a scene in a TV drama has gone viral on Western social media.
The background: The incident occurred in Xiaojie, a town in Songming County, Yunnan province, China on March 8. Although the incident was over eight months old, X handle @cctvidiots re-shared the CCTV footage on X on Monday, where it has gone viral with over 19.5 million views.
Little Girl Throws 4-Year-Old Boy Into A Well In China pic.twitter.com/KmyxdqTYLq
— CCTV IDIOTS (@cctvidiots) November 27, 2023
What happened: The CCTV footage shows a girl, later identified to be a 7-year-old, picking up the boy and dumping him into a well. Chinese media claimed that the girl was allegedly mimicking a TV drama.
According to Chinese media reports, the well was 2.65 meters (8.69 feet) deep from the opening and had 2 meters of (6.5 feet) water.
How he was saved: Several residents came to the rescue 10 minutes after hearing the boy’s cry for help. The Yunnan Police, who confirmed what happened to the media, noted that he was later taken to the hospital and had no external injuries, further noting that the boy only had a mild fever and a cough.
The aftermath: Yunnan Police said the children’s parents had reached a settlement through “the mediation of the local village committee” and that the boy has recovered since the incident.
How people reacted: Several Weibo users expressed shock at what happened in their comments at that time, with one user celebrating the successful rescue of the child. The user added that any minor who has an intention to harm another child should have supervision and guidance.
Another Weibo user noted that it’s important to keep wells safe.
Meanwhile, one Weibo user expressed anger over what happened to the boy and pleaded not to let the girl get away.
