A two-year-old girl who was struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run accident in China was ignored by more than a dozen passers-by as she lay critically injured on the road.
Surveillance footage of the horrifying incident has sparked outrage and disbelief on China's hugely popular social media sites, where an anguished public debate has broken out about the state of Chinese society.
The footage shows the young girl, named Yueyue, toddling into the path of a van outside her family's shop in a busy wholesale market in the southern Chinese city of Fosham.
The van hits the girl and momentarily stops, before the driver continues on, crushing the child again beneath his rear wheels.
What unfolds next is arguably even more shocking.
Up to 18 passers-by are seen in the footage ignoring Yueyue as she lies critically injured and bleeding on the road, with several even changing their walking path to veer around her body.
A man on a scooter steers around the toddler and looks at her body before continuing down the street, as a second van approaches and drives over the girl's legs.
Another motorcyclist applies his brakes and clearly looks at the girl, lying in a pool of blood, before driving off. The scene is repeated as rickshaws and pedestrians give her a wide berth.
It is not until seven minutes later that a street cleaner, later identified as 58-year-old Chen Xianmei, comes to the girl's aid and lifts her from the road, calling for help.
She was ignored by several shopkeepers before finally tracking down Yueyue's mother who took her to hospital.
I think this is the most horrifying video I have ever watched. For the brave, here is a link to the surveillance footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL8C5JpHIHc&feature=related
