Chinese web users are detained for 'insulting' heroic firefighters who died trying to put out a forest fire
- Two users from two provinces were investigated for controversial speeches
- They allegedly slandered a group of firefighters who died on Sunday in a fire
- China passed a law last year to protect the reputation of 'heroes and martyrs'
Chinese police have detained two web users after they allegedly posted insulting comments towards a group of people who died fighting a massive forest fire.
They include 27 firefighters, two officials and one volunteer. They were killed in the line of duty on Sunday while trying to contain a forest blaze in the mountains of Liangshan prefecture, south-western Sichuan Province.
The youngest victim was just 18 years old, and many other were in their early 20s. They have been lauded as heroes and the authorities have started the process to add their names to the martyrs list.
One of the web users from the city of Quanzhou made malicious speeches about the late firefighters on Baidu, China's equivalent to Google, according to the country's web police.
Both individuals, from two different provinces, are accused of slandering the firefighters online under pseudonyms.
The first web user was detained by police in Quanzhou in Fujian Province on Monday after reportedly making malicious speeches on Baidu, China's equivalent to Google.
According to screen grabs released by the Liangshan web police, the individual claimed that the province of Sichuan deserved to be burnt and joked that public should go there to 'enjoy barbecued people'.
The second web user, identified as 35-year-old Zhang, was detained by police in Anshan in Liaoning Province today.
The other web user, identified as 35-year-old Zhang, was detained by police today (file photo)
The Anshan web police said Zhang had spread defamatory messages about the firefighters, without specifying the content. Zhang posted the comments in chatting groups on WeChat, the Chinese equivalent to WhatsApp.
Nearly 700 firefighters were deployed to battle the massive blaze, which broke out on Saturday on steep, remote terrain at an altitude of around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) in Muli County, Sichuan province.
The blaze was largely contained around midday on Tuesday, though some areas were still burning, said Wu Song, county chief of Muli, according to Xinhua.
Local authorities lost contact with 30 victims on Sunday afternoon after a sudden change in wind direction ignited a 'huge fireball', authorities previously said.
Twenty seven were firefighters, two forestry officials and one local volunteer.
The two individuals allegedly slandered a group of firefighters who were killed in the line of duty on Sunday while trying to contain a forest blaze in the mountains of Sichuan (pictured)
People arrive at a funeral parlor for a funeral service for the firefighters yesterday in Xichang
A public funeral for the victims was held yesterday in the city of Xichang and residents flocked to the funeral home to pay their respect for the heroes.
News of the detentions comes amid a national crackdown on 'harmful' online information. The 'clean net 2019' campaign, set to run from March to November, vows to fight against pornography and vulgar content online.
The news also came a year after China's central government passed a law which bans people from defaming the country's 'heroes and martyrs'.
The law, which went into effect on May 1 last year, aims at 'passing down the martyr spirits' and 'promoting patriotism'.
It makes it illegal to 'misrepresent, defame, profane or deny the deeds and spirits of heroes and martyrs, or to praise or beautify invasions,' state media said in a summary when it was introduced.
Anyone infringing it faces punishment in line with the law and may be investigated for criminal responsibility.
One Chinese citizen, named Zeng, became the first to be punished by the law after being sued by a city government last May for insulting a dead fireman.
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