Faculty members from the Japanese Aichi University held a press conference at Nankai University in Tianjin Saturday to express their gratitude to the school staff, and hospital doctors and nurses, for their efforts to rescue four Japanese students who fell into an icy lake on Nankai campus.
The four students, studying Chinese at Nankai, fell in the water on Wednesday while they were playing on the frozen lake. Three of them were saved from drowning when school staff rushed to the rescue, but Haruta Kouichi, a 19-year-old boy, had already drowned, when his body was pulled out of water nearly half an hour later. Kouichi was not able to swim after he fell through the thin ice.
Professor Imaizumi, dean of the Chinese Faculty at Aichi University, said at the press conference that his university faculty is upset over the tragedy, but they have learnt that staff in Nankai and the No.1 Hospital in Tianjin did their utmost to save the lives of the four students.
The accident would not overshadow the friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two schools, said Imaizumi, adding that the four-month Chinese training in Nankai will still be an important part of Aichi's Chinese Language Teaching.
The three rescued students have left hospital. They expressed their gratitude to the rescuers. Father of Kouichi arrived at Tianjin and sent a letter to the meeting to express his condolence for his son and thanks for the helpers in Nankai University during the accident.
A funeral for Kouichi was held by his Nankai classmates after the press conference.
(Xinhua 12/16/2000)
