Expat Teenager Flees Scene Upon Injuring Baby with Out-of-Control Aerial Drone

Charles Liu, Senior Blogger | May 13, 2018 9:00 am | 3 comments | 3107 reads

The fate of an expat teenager is up in the air after the drone he was flying in a Beijing park crashed into the face of a one-year-old baby.

Ms. Qi said her child Chengcheng (a pseudonym) was injured when he was struck by an out-of-control unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Wednesday afternoon in the Xiaotaihou River Park on the southeastern outskirts of the Fourth Ring Road.

Qi and her family visited three hospitals before they were able to find suitable medical treatment for Chengcheng, who needed seven stitches. Doctors say it is likely the boy will grow up with scars on his face.

Qi sent out an appeal for eyewitnesses after the family failed to confront the operator of the drone, instead directing all of their attention towards trying to help the injured child.

READ: Chinese Sages Meets Flying Drones in Bizarre Promotion for Beijing Legislative Sessions

However, even under different circumstances, it's not likely that Qi might have had the chance. Eyewitnesses say the drone operator, described as a young non-Chinese man with pale skin and blond hair, picked up his drone and fled the scene while riding a hoverboard.

To Qi's dismay, video surveillance cameras at the park were only just recently installed, and were not recording at the time of the incident.

However, police have intervened and are investigating a 14-year-old suspect with an overseas nationality.

READ: Forbidden City, Forbidden Fruit: Beijing Drone Photography in a (Mostly) Drone-Free City

Despite China's position as the leading manufacturer of UAVs, current regulations forbid drone use within much of Beijing. Last February, the Beijing Capital International Airport set up a no-fly zone for UAVs that stretches for 1,058 square kilometers around it. As well, Chinese drone manufacturers have voluntarily instituted a no-fly-zone for UAVs within the entire Beijing Sixth Ring Road area, thereby forcing residents to restrict their drone use to remote, sparsely-habited areas.

Expats and their drones have previously caught the attention of the local PSB. Trey Ratcliff was briefly taken in by police in 2014 after he flew his drone over the Forbidden City without paying attention to its high-security neighbor, Zhongnanhai, home to China's top political leaders.

UPDATE 4:20pm May 21, 2018: The victim's family says they haven't had much luck in getting compensation for their injured baby.

On their Weibo account that uses a Chinese flag as its avatar, the Zhang family identify the 14-year-old German boy's guardian as "Daniel", an engineer and supervisor at nearby Daimler-Benz who is said to be unwilling to provide compensation because he is "poor" despite living long-term in a luxury hotel.

As with all minors in China, the boy can not be charged with a crime.

Here are the latest photos of Chengcheng: