China's hiking organisers in troubled waters after 16-year-old dies of heat wave in desert

In an unfortunate fold of events in China, organisers of a hiking trip are in troubled waters after a 16-year-old boy died in July in the desert in northern China, apparently related to a lack of medical and life-saving support. The deceased was identified with the surname Zheng. Along with seven other teenage students, he was on an excursion in the Tengger Desert in Mongolia.

According to other students, the boy appeared to have died of a heatwave and exposure with temperatures reportedly climbing the 50 degrees Celsius mark and above. The boys were carrying backpacks weighing as much as 20 kg and the hiking troop was estimated to walk 18 km per day until they were caught up in extremely hot temperatures.

China's teenage boy dies of heatwave while on a hike 

The staff members-in-charge are accused of not taking Zheng's symptoms seriously while he continues hiking under coercion. Reports suggested that he had collapsed onto the ground twice. After climbing to the peak of a sand dune, Zheng had rolled down the slope, a student, identified by the surname Li from the expedition. Because there was no network or internet connectivity, the coach only managed to call emergency personnel after Zheng was driven to a highway when the ambulance arrived an hour later.

A doctor in the ambulance said Zheng did not have his vitals upon arrival, according to Li, who was on the vehicle too.

Li told South China Morning Post, "No walkie-talkie, no vehicle nearby, no medical staff, except only one coach. How dare he lead eight juveniles to cross the Tengger Desert?"

The excursion was priced at 22,500 Yuan ($3,400) per person and was due to last from July 25 to August 3. 8 students who had joined the camp were aged between 16 to 17 years.

The organisers said that the experience could become a highlight point in the resume. One of the benefits of such adventures is that they could potentially help students get accepted into foreign universities. Fellow students in the hiking group said that most students participated because they wanted to add scores when applying for foreign campuses.