A man screaming “I want my father” tried to break down a police barricade in Shanghai on Tuesday, as relatives of victims of the Yangtze ferry disaster thronged around government offices to protest against the lack of information on their loved ones’ fate, many hours after the tragedy.
His anger seemed to galvanise other frustrated, mostly middle-aged mourners, who joined him in trying to batter down the gate until police backed down and allowed them to enter. Tensions peaked and ebbed as relatives, most from Shanghai, sat for hours waiting for a victim list or any information from the city travel agency that organised the “Red Sunset” cruise which went down with 458 aboard.
In previous tragedies to hit Chinese families, grief has often quickly turned to anger. In March 2014, frustrated relatives of the more than 150 Chinese passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 broke through police cordons to march on Kuala Lumpur’s embassy in Beijing. Most of their ire remained focused on the Malaysian authorities.