05.11.08

The Wisdom of Crowds in China

Posted in Law and Order, Olympics at 19:20 by Nator

A troubling incident yesterday on a plane at Beijing’s airport:

Three passengers were injured in an emergency evacuation from a China Eastern jet at Beijing’s main airport on Saturday, after controls warned of a fire while the plane was taxiing to the runway, Chinese media reported. . . .

After the controls indicated a possible fire, the crew ordered all passengers to exit the plane, during which three passengers were injured, including one who suffered a bone fracture, CCTV reported.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as what happened in Miyun, a town just outside Beijing, in 2004. But it does help show why security is getting so tight in the run-up to the Olympics–in crowded Chinese cities, panic alone is enough to cause a disaster.

The pictures are from National Day (October 1) 2003. We were in Tiananmen Square and trying to leave, but the wave of other sightseers coming into the square kept pushing us back. Things got a bit hairy for a while, and it was scary to feel how little control one had against the ebb and flow of the crowd. It took us nearly twenty minutes, but we got out unharmed.

Permalink