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Wednesday, February 23, 2000, 12:58 p.m. Pacific


Immigrants' deaths ruled accidental; stowaways died of dehydration, malnutrition

by Dave Birkland
Seattle Times staff reporter

The three Chinese immigrants found dead in a cargo container when their ship docked at Harbor Island Jan. 10 died of acute malnutrition and dehydration, the King County Medical Examiner's Office said today.

The deaths of Dian Biao Jiang, Ben Qing Zhu and Hui Zhang, who authorities say were being smuggled into the United States, are classified as accidental, said Jerry Webster, chief examiner.

The soft-topped container the three men were found in had plenty of food and water but the three apparently were so ill from seasickness they could not eat or drink, Webster said.

When the cargo ship docked at Harbor Island, the three men, along with 15 other Chinese immigrants, were found hidden in a container on the bottom deck of the vessel, which had left Hong Kong 16 days earlier.

The inside of the container was filthy with crushed cardboard, plastic bottles, bags of human waste and blankets.

It is uncertain whether the relatives of Ben Qing Zhu and Hui Zhang have been notified because there was no way to contact them, Webster said. They were believed to be from the coastal province of Fujian, which is opposite Taiwan and southwest of Hong Kong.

The Medical Examiner's Office hasn't been able to determine or approximate the men's ages, Webster said.

Alan Lai, a social worker with the Chinese Information and Service Center, said he had been able to talk to Dian Biao Jiang's wife and inform her of her husband's death.

The 15 men who survived the crossing all needed medical treatment on arrival, but none had life-threatening medical conditions. After treatment at Harborview Medical Center, they were turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to determine their status. Their requests for asylum in the United States are still pending, the INS said today.

More than 100 Chinese stowaways have been arrested at West Coast ports since Jan. 1, immigration officials have reported.

Hui Zhang died first, about Jan. 1, eight days after departing Hong Kong, according to the Medical Examiner's Office. Dian Biao Jiang died about Jan. 7, and Ben Quig Zhu died the day before the ship docked in Seattle.

The three men were found in the corner of the cargo container, one of them wrapped in a blanket. Others in the container said they shouted to the crew after some of the men began dying, but their shouts were unheard or ignored.

The survivors told INS officials they ate canned porridge, apples and crackers during the journey.



Copyright © 2000 The Seattle Times Company


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