Over 50 of the 80 public offering iron basins at the cemetery were stolen. The local police responded: they have filed a case and are investigating.

The Qingming Festival is approaching, and many citizens are heading to cemeteries to pay their respects. However, at a cemetery in Yaoji Town, Suining County, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, multiple iron basins used for offerings have gone missing. Cemetery staff told reporters from Da Wan News that a total of 80 communal iron basins were purchased for the public to use, but over 50 of them have been stolen. Da Wan News reporters learned from the local police station that an investigation has been launched regarding this matter.

On March 26, Mr. Sun told reporters that he is a staff member at Datong Cemetery in Yaoji Town, Suining County, Xuzhou City, and a few days ago, he saw an unbelievable scene while reviewing the surveillance footage.

Mr. Sun said that with the Qingming Festival approaching, the cemetery purchased 80 iron basins to facilitate citizens in burning paper money. Around March 23, while on duty, he noticed that a fire had broken out in the woods of the cemetery. Upon investigating the cause of the fire, he saw through the surveillance footage that someone had taken away the iron basins and dumped unfinished paper money into the woods, igniting the fire.

“The peak time for offerings hasn’t arrived yet, and over 50 iron basins have been stolen. We have already reported this to the police,” Mr. Sun said. He added that during the same period last year, 40 iron offering barrels purchased by the cemetery also went missing, but at that time, they could not ascertain the specific time of the loss, so no further investigation was conducted.

On March 26, Da Wan News reporters got in touch with the operating company of Datong Cemetery, Xingmanshan Funeral Service Co., Ltd. in Suining County. A staff member at the company confirmed that Mr. Sun is indeed a cemetery employee. According to her understanding, the incident of missing iron basins has occurred, but she is not clear about the number of basins or the timing of the incident as she does not work on-site.

On the same day, the reporters also contacted the Yaoji Police Station of Suining County Public Security Bureau. Staff members told Da Wan News reporters that the police station had indeed received reports about this matter recently and that an investigation has been initiated.

Source: Da Wan News

Editor: Dai Yuchun

Reviewer: Zheng Wei, Sun Dianyong

For a wealth of information and precise interpretations, visit the Sina Finance APP.