Yue Yue, the girl who shamed China, is dead:
Two-year-old run over TWICE as dozens of [shameful] people ignored her lying in the road succumbs to her injuries
- Announcement of her death quickly became the most talked about topic on China's version of Twitter
- Lawmakers set to meet to discuss introduction of 'Good Samaritan' legislation
- Country's economic boom and disparity between rich and poor have made changing social values a contentious topic
The Chinese girl left bleeding in a road after being run over by two different vehicles and then ignored by 18 passersby has finally died.
Horrific video footage emerged earlier this week of two-year-old Wang Yue - known as Yue Yue - being knocked down by a van in Foshan, a city in the southern province of Guandong.
As she bleeds on the narrow street more than a dozen people walk or cycle past her for the next seven minutes before a second truck runs over her.
The toddler was eventually taken to hospital and survived for more than a week before eventually dying of brain failure. Both drivers who ran over the girl have been arrested.
Scroll down for the video... Warning: Graphic content
Ignored: Yue Yue was left with horrific brain injuries and never recovered
Unaware: Video footage shows the youngster crossing the road at Guangfo Hardware Market, without realising the van is approaching her
The footage of the incident quickly spread via the internet causing shock around the world and triggered a bout of bitter soul searching in China about the nation’s apparent moral decay in the midst of an economic boom.
It shows how a woman eventually pulls the girl to the side of the road before her mother, a migrant worker in the city, rushes to see what has happened to her daughter.
As a result people in China called upon the government to introduce a 'Good Samaritan law' to punish passersby who refuse to help people in need.
The case triggered a furore across the nation, which questioned how such callousness could occur - with some blaming it a descent into an 'immoral modern society'.
China's economic boom and the growing disparity between the rich and poor have made changing social values a contentious topic, with some lamenting what they see as materialism replacing morals.
Grief: Yue Yue's mother and father were left devastated by their daughter's death
Support: Yue Yue's parents received donations from across the world to help them pay for her hospital treatment
Loved ones: Yue Yue pictured being held by her mother with her older brother in the foreground
Yue Yue's death quickly became the most talked about topic on China's version of Twitter, Sina's Weibo.
Gongzai Xiaoben posted: 'I hope that this little angel who was discarded by society can act as a wake-up call to the nation about the importance of moral education.'
Winter space added: 'Hope you can find some love in heaven. This world is full of apathy.'
Her father had received more than 270,000 yuan ($42,280) to help pay for Wang's medical treatment after receiving donations from across the globe.
One local Communist party chief urged 'searching reflection' over the incident, according to the official Guangzhou Daily.
'Take active and effective steps to raise the moral standards of the entire society,' he told a meeting of province officials.
'We should look into the ugliness in ourselves with a dagger of conscience and bite the soul-searching bullet.'
Many people in China are hesitant to help people who appear to be in distress for fear that they will be blamed.
High-profile lawsuits have ended with good Samaritans ordered to pay hefty fines to individuals they sought to help.
In Guangdong, where Yue Yue lived her brief life, the local party branch and government are attempting to apply a sticky plaster over Chinese society's gaping wound by discussing a new law to make it illegal for people to ignore strangers in distress.
Lawyer Zhu Yongping says that the province could establish a Good Samaritan law as a local law, but it is difficult to define the motives of a person in each individual case. A group of lawyers will discuss the idea next month and push for related legislation.
Wang Yang, a top official, told a high-level provincial meeting that the tragedy should be a 'wake-up call' for society and that such incidents should not be allowed to occur again.
'We should look into the ugliness in ourselves with a dagger of conscience and bite the soul-searching bullet,' he said.
Despite its current social conditions, the Chinese government can point to some positive achievements, having lifted 400 million out of poverty to create a new middle class living in modern high rises in futuristic cities and peasants finding new lives in the factory boom towns.
The vast majority of Chinese are literate and many well educated. Many are poor but none are starving.
Injuries: Yue Yue is hit by a second van, which also fails to stop, leaving her lying in the road
Good Samaritan: Eventually a woman dragged Yue Yue to the side of the road before her mother arrived on the scene
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