December 7, 2007
The front page photo in The Beijing News is of the aftermath of an accident that took place at the northeast corner of Changhong Bridge in Beijing’s Chaoyang District at 2 pm yesterday. As bicycle riders were passing the corner, an electrical pole toppled to the ground without warning, killing one rider. Two other riders were seriously injured, including a girl from France.
One headline on the left is about a gas explosion at a coal mine in Hongtong, Shanxi Province, which killed at least 70 people and trapped 26 on Wednesday. The mine owner did not report the accident for five hours, delaying the rescue operation. Efforts are still underway, but the article reports that eleven separate inspection stations have been set up to prevent journalist from reaching the scene of the accident.
Other papers, such as Beijing Youth Daily, featured the Omaha, Nebraska, shooting on the front page; The Beijing News ran the story inside the paper.
The lead headline announces that property developers must allow buyers to inspect their new homes without demanding that they pay first. The new regulations, from the Beijing Construction Management Committee, will go into effect on January 1, 2008.
Other headlines:
- Proposals have been made for two suburban railways in Beijing. One will go to Mentougou, the other to Changping and Yanqing;
- Xinyitian Real Estate, a Beijing-based company that has closed several branches, has been the focus of rumors saying that the company is either exiting the property sector or has gone bankrupt. The company’s deputy manager denied the rumors, saying that the closures were merely part of a restructuring.