Internet cafe fined in deaths of gamers

The Associated Press

Apr 9, 2004 | Chinese authorities have fined an Internet cafe after two teenagers spent more than 48 hours playing an online video game, then fell asleep on a railroad track and were killed by a train, the government's Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.

Officials in the western region of Chongqing, where the cafe was located, seized five computers and fined cafe owner Ou Zheng 30,000 yuan (US$3,600) for running the business without permits, the agency said. They also shut down the business.

Two 14-year-old boys were crushed to death by a train on March 31 when they fell asleep on the track "after wearily leaving an Internet bar where they had been playing the Korean online game Legend II for over 48 hours," the report said.

One of the boys, Xiong Hai, had been playing the game nonstop for 72 hours while the other, Wang Dong, played for 48 hours, Xinhua said, citing their classmate Luo Hua.

Luo, who was with them, was awakened by the train and escaped injury, Xinhua said.

The boys had planned to walk along the railway back to Xiong's home to sleep there, the report added.

Restrictions on Internet cafes in downtown Chongqing prompted many to relocate outside the city center, where they were more able to avoid inspections, Xinhua said.

The Chinese government launched a major crackdown on illegal Internet cafes two years ago after a fire in an unlicensed cafe in Beijing killed 25 people.

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