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Chinese Mourn Student Killed In Boston Blasts

Evie Liu |
April 17, 2013 | 6:41 p.m. PDT

Staff reporter

With the third victim of the Boston Marathon bombing identified as Lingzi Lu, a Chinese graduate student at Boston University, the Chinese media and society, especially graduate students in America, expressed great shock and grief. Her page on Chinese social media website Renren was visited thousands of times yesterday.

The Chinese Students and Scholars of Boston University (BUCSSA) posted on its Renren page hat it would hold a morning and blessing event at Marsh Plaza of Boston University iin remembrance of Lu and to offer best wishes for the recovery of Dangling Zhou, another Chinese student that was severely injured in the blast.

Chinese students at Boston University wrote down their best wishes for Lingzi Lu and Danling Zhou at the mourning event this afternoon. (BUCSSA Sina Weibo)
Chinese students at Boston University wrote down their best wishes for Lingzi Lu and Danling Zhou at the mourning event this afternoon. (BUCSSA Sina Weibo)

Lingzi Lu, together with her other two friends, was watching the marathon near the finish line when the tragedy happened on Monday. She was missing for one day and there was a wide-spread search activity on Chinese Internet to find her out. 

“何煦Rachel” posted on her Renren page: “In the Boston blasts, my friend was injured and the girl together with her cannot be connected now. We have called many hospitals and emergency centers, but still haven’t heard from her. Her name is Lingzi Lu... Please spread this news and contact us if you have any information. Many people are looking for her!”

The confirmation of Lu’s death came out yesterday. At first her identity was not made public out of the respect to her parents’ wish and the third victim was only identified as a “Chinese citizen”. However, with the search power of Internet, the assumption spread out fast that Lingzi Lu was the one killed in the accident. This morning, her parents also agreed to publish her name.

In Lu’s last post at Sina Weibo, China’s most popular micro-blogging service, she posted a picture and wrote: “My wonderful breakfast!”

" My wonderful breakfast!" (Lingzi Lu Sina Weibo)
" My wonderful breakfast!" (Lingzi Lu Sina Weibo)

Many virtual candle were lit up on Chinese Internet to wish her all the best in the heaven. So far there are already more than 24,000 comments at Lu’s last post to pray for her.

Guo Ye, a graduate student at USC, who got to know Lu a year ago at an interview for Fordham University, said: “It’s such a shock. Yesterday it was just a number in the news, today it becomes the lost of someone in my real life,” she said. “When I check her Weibo, I can feel the sudden disappearance of such a lively life. Yesterday she was happy about her breakfast, today we just can not hear from her anymore.”

The deaths of two Chinese students in the shooting at USC last year, the weird missing and death of Elisa Lam in the Los Angeles hotel this year and the tragedy this time have caused a lot of worry and frustration among Chinese netizens about the safety of Chinese overseas students.

Zhou, the other Chinese girl injured in the accident, is now in stable condition after two operations at Boston Medical Center, according to Robert Hill, dean of Marsh Chapel. Zhou is back to consciousness and able to speak now. She wrote down the message “I am fine, don’t worry” on paper yesterday to people concerning about her. Her friends at Boston University are taking care of her now and her parents are on the way to visit her in the U.S.

 

Reach Reporter Evie Liu here.



 

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