Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 276 The Corruption of the Collapsed Bridge

Lang Wenping was also shocked.

The bridge, which was completed and opened to traffic last year, has a total investment of more than 50 million yuan and is a key livelihood project in the county. Many county leaders attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and the media gave it extensive coverage.

How long has it been? Less than a year! It collapsed! And it even caused casualties!

Fortunately, it happened at night; if it had happened during the day, it would undoubtedly have caused even greater casualties.

But rescue operations are more difficult at night.

Xu Jin said, "We are mobilizing resources to carry out rescue operations. The police, fire department, and ambulances are all on their way there."

Huang Xiaoyong, the deputy county head in charge of transportation and construction, is also on his way to the site.

Wu Zhiyuan made a decisive decision: "Director Xu, I'm going there now! Have you reported to County Chief Ding yet?"

Xu Jin said, "I don't know if Director Angyang of the County Government Office has reported this to County Chief Ding."

Ding Yiyi is studying at the Provincial Party School.

On his way to Wanshan Town, Wu Zhiyuan called Ding Yiyi to report the collapse of the Wanshan New Bridge.

Ding Yiyi was completely unaware of this.

Ang Yang, the director of the county government office, is Wu Zhiyuan's old rival.

Back then, Ang Yang was initially Xu Youwei's secretary, but Xu Youwei was dissatisfied with him, so he replaced him with Wu Zhiyuan.

After Ang Yang resigned as secretary, he secretly installed a hidden camera in Xu Youwei's office, which was later discovered by Wu Zhiyuan.

Xu Youwei assigned Angyang to serve as the first secretary of the Party branch in a poor village in Qingshan County.

Angyang is a distant relative of Geng Dongqing.

After Geng Dongqing was transferred to Qingshan County as county magistrate, Ang Yang was quickly promoted from deputy section chief to section chief and appointed as the mayor of Wanshan Town.

After serving as town mayor for less than a year, he was transferred to the position of director of the county government office, directly serving Geng Dongqing.

After Geng Dongqing was promoted to county party secretary, Ang Yang remained as director of the county government office.

This is Geng Dongqing's brilliant move.

In principle, the director of the county government office serves the county head, but the current acting county head is Ding Yiyi.

Ang Yang continued to serve as the director of the county government office, essentially a spy planted by Geng Dongqing in the county government.

Ding Yiyi said, "Zhiyuan, I'm going to ask for leave and come back immediately."

Before I return, you will be in full command of the on-site operation. Your primary task is to conduct a full-scale search and rescue operation and spare no effort to save lives!

At the same time, control the scene, prevent secondary disasters, calm the public, and immediately establish an on-site emergency command center. Relevant leaders and department heads must be in place immediately!

Also, pay attention to preserving evidence at the scene, assign dedicated personnel to maintain order, and especially be mindful of the media and onlookers. While ensuring information transparency, it's also crucial to prevent the spread of rumors!

Wu Zhiyuan said in a deep voice into the phone, "County Chief Ding, I am on my way to the scene. In accordance with the emergency plan, I am doing my best to organize rescue and on-site handling."

Please rest assured, I will do my best. Please be careful on your journey.

During Ding Yiyi's full-time study at the Provincial Party School, he is not allowed to take leave in principle, but he can still take leave in case of emergencies.

The vehicle arrived in Wanshan Town.

Even from some distance from the collapse site, one could already see flashing police lights, and the red lights of fire trucks and ambulances all lined up together.

The area has been cordoned off.

With the help of moonlight and lamplight, it can be seen that the middle section of the bridge has completely collapsed.

A few days ago there was a heavy rain, and the river was flowing rapidly.

Several speedboats and rescue vessels searched back and forth on the river.

On the shore, police officers, firefighters, medical personnel, and local residents were working busily.

Fan Yueting, director of the county's emergency management bureau, reported to Wu Zhiyuan: "County Chief Wu, it has been preliminarily confirmed that three vehicles were crossing the bridge when it collapsed, and the vehicles and passengers fell into the river."

Two vehicles have been salvaged, two people have been rescued, three people have died, and one vehicle and at least two people are still missing. A full-scale search and rescue operation is underway.

The current at the point of entry was quite rapid, with whirlpools, which increased the difficulty.

Wu Zhiyuan asked in a deep voice, "Where is Deputy County Head Huang Xiaoyong?"

Fan Yueting pointed to several official vehicles and emergency lights not far away: "County Chief Huang's temporary command post is over there."

The temporary command post was set up in an official vehicle.

Some people were sitting in the car, and some were standing at the car door.

Huang Xiaoyong used a walkie-talkie to issue commands.

He was around fifty years old, of medium build, with thinning hair and a bald forehead.

Upon seeing Wu Zhiyuan arrive, Huang Xiaoyong seemed somewhat displeased: "County Chief Wu, I'm here."

Wu Zhiyuan didn't dwell on it and asked, "County Chief Huang, what's the situation now? What's the latest progress in the rescue?"

Huang Xiaoyong didn't take Wu Zhiyuan seriously, his tone laced with sarcasm: "County Chief Wu, I've been here for half an hour! The rescue work is almost over, and you're asking me this!"

Wu Zhiyuan was very upset: "This is a problem with the information reporting. The county government's duty office didn't report it to me or County Chief Ding immediately!"

Huang Xiaoyong said coldly, "I am the deputy county head in charge. The duty room reported to me immediately. Is that wrong?"

County Chief Ding is studying full-time at the Provincial Party School and does not need to report to her.

Besides, I reported it to Secretary Geng immediately!

Wu Zhiyuan waved his hand: "County Chief Huang, let's not talk about whether there are problems with the information reporting now. I need to know how far the rescue operation has progressed!"

Huang Xiaoyong passed the buck to Fan Yueting: "Director Fan, please give County Chief Wu a detailed report on the latest situation."

Caught between the two deputy county heads, Fan Yueting was somewhat embarrassed, but he still answered in an orderly manner: "County Head Wu, the current situation is as follows:"

Of the three vehicles that fell into the river, two sedans have been salvaged, containing the bodies of three victims whose identities are being verified. Fortunately, two of them were rescued.

The third vehicle, which witnesses described as possibly a minivan or SUV, is still missing. The number of people inside is unknown, but there were at least two.

In terms of rescue efforts, firefighters, police, and rescue teams organized by Wanshan Town are conducting surface searches and shallow water area investigations within a 500-meter radius upstream and downstream of the broken bridge.

Due to the rain in the previous days, the river level rose, the current was fast, underwater visibility was low, and the complex structure of the collapsed bridge made underwater search and rescue very difficult.

In addition, the lighting equipment we have deployed is limited, and large areas of downstream water are poorly lit...

Wu Zhiyuan said sternly, "The search area on the water is too narrow! Five hundred meters?"

With such a rapid current, vehicles and people could easily be swept further downstream!

Why not expand the coverage area? Why not immediately request support from higher authorities if the lighting is insufficient? If the county doesn't have it, what about the city?

Besides professional teams, have local residents familiar with the river's water characteristics and topography been organized to participate?

Fan Yueting glanced at Huang Xiaoyong, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but didn't.

Huang Xiaoyong chimed in, "County Chief Wu, you're new here and may not be familiar with the situation."

Nighttime water search and rescue is not about having more people or covering a larger area; that would be a waste of manpower and resources and could also create new chaos and safety problems.

The lighting equipment was urgently allocated by the county and is already the optimal configuration.

It will take time for the equipment from the city to be transferred. By the time they arrive, the missing person will have already disappeared and there will be no chance of survival.

As for organizing the masses? It's pitch black, the river conditions are complicated, if something happens to the masses, who will be responsible?

Rescue efforts must be conducted scientifically and according to command; decisions must not be made on a whim!

Wu Zhiyuan stared at Huang Xiaoyong and said sternly, "County Chief Huang, I'm not going to argue with you about who has the command authority."

My only question is: with the fate of the missing persons still unknown, have we done our utmost with our current measures? Is there any room for improvement?

If we miss the last chance for rescue because of our hesitation and in pursuit of so-called safety, who among us can bear that responsibility?

How will we explain this to the families of the victims and the missing?

Huang Xiaoyong's face darkened: "County Chief Wu, what do you mean by that?"

Do you think I, Huang Xiaoyong, don't want to save people?

Every comrade on site was working their butt off.

But rescue efforts must also be conducted in a proper manner!

After such a major accident, there are still a lot of things to deal with: stabilizing public morale, investigating the cause, and holding those responsible accountable—all of these must be addressed comprehensively!

Wu Zhiyuan directly invoked Ding Yiyi's name: "County Chief Huang, County Chief Ding clearly instructed on the phone that the top priority right now is to do everything possible to search for and rescue people and save lives!"

She authorized me to represent her and take full responsibility for on-site emergency rescue command, and to mobilize all necessary resources!

I believe the current rescue efforts and plans are insufficient to address the severe situation regarding the search for missing persons! We must intensify them immediately! Time is of the essence!

Huang Xiaoyong countered sharply, bringing up Geng Dongqing: "County Chief Ding studied at the Provincial Party School, and may not have fully grasped the complexity and danger of the situation."

In the face of such a major accident, rescue efforts are certainly important, but they must also be conducted scientifically and systematically, without acting impulsively.

Secretary Geng just called specifically to emphasize that while making every effort to carry out rescue operations, it is imperative to ensure the safety of the rescue personnel themselves.

At the same time, we must find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible, stabilize public sentiment, and give a responsible explanation to our superiors and the public.

Secretary Geng demanded that an accident investigation team be established immediately and that preliminary conclusions be reached as soon as possible.

He was the team leader, and I was the deputy team leader.

Wu Zhiyuan immediately understood that Geng Dongqing didn't want to save people immediately, but rather wanted to firmly grasp the initiative in the accident investigation, clearly having ulterior motives.

A bridge that cost more than 50 million yuan to build collapsed less than a year after it was opened to traffic, causing serious casualties, which is enough to show that it was a shoddy construction project.

There must be a lot of shady dealings involved.

Geng Dongqing was eager to seize the initiative in the investigation, even going so far as to personally take charge. His purpose was obvious—he wanted to control the "truth" and cover up the real "truth."