Tragically, it has taken the recent death of a young lady in Suzhou to once again bring back to the public consciousness the dangers possibly lurking in bunk beds in many parts of China. Somewhat unbelievably, the problem stems from it being too easy to simply fall out.
可悲的是，直到最近苏州一名年轻女士的死亡事件才再次让公众意识到中国许多地方的双层床可能潜藏着危险。有点令人难以置信的是，问题源于它太容易掉下来。
Song Jiayi was the 22-year-old girl from Suzhou who fell to her death from her bed the past few days, while sleeping on a top bunk in her dormitory. Song had been enrolled in the Suzhou Top Institute of Information Technology (苏州托普信息职业技术学院), where the dormitory was located.
宋佳怡是22岁的苏州女孩，这几天在宿舍上铺睡觉时从床上坠落身亡。宋某就读于苏州托普信息职业技术学院，宿舍就在苏州托普信息职业技术学院。
After the tragedy, Song’s family found that the height of the bunk-bed guardrail was only approximately 15 centimetres. After the addition of bedding, there was little to stop anyone from falling out while turning in their sleep.
悲剧发生后，宋家人发现双层床护栏的高度只有15厘米左右。添加床上用品后，几乎没有什么可以阻止人们在睡觉时翻身时摔倒。
On 13 January, health and safety staff with the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education told a reporter that they had learned about the matter and had notified the school to make rectifications. It was not clear as to whether the school had acted on the notification, reported The Paper on 14 January.
1月13日，江苏省教育厅卫生安全工作人员告诉记者，他们已了解到此事，并已通知学校整改。据澎湃新闻 1 月 14 日报道，目前尚不清楚学校是否已按照通知采取行动。
Sadly, the bunk bed death in Suzhou is by far not the first in recent years.
可悲的是，苏州双层床死亡事件并非近年来首例。
On the evening of 28 May, 2012, a 12-year-old boy surnamed Wu was sleeping on a bunk bed in a primary school in Suqian of Jiangsu Province.
2012年5月28日晚，江苏省宿迁市一所小学的12岁吴姓男孩睡在双层床上。
The bunk almost completely lacked a guardrail. As night turned to the following day, Wu fell from the upper bunk and sustained major injuries. He was later categorised as having a Grade 8 Disability. Wu’s family went on to sue the school, citing the bunk bed’s measurements, including those of the near-non-existent guardrail.
铺位几乎完全没有护栏。次日夜幕降临，吴某从上铺坠落，受重伤。他后来被归类为八级残疾。吴的家人随后起诉学校，理由是双层床的尺寸，包括几乎不存在的护栏的尺寸。
The court held that the school failed to fulfill its education and management duties and thus should bear 80 percent of responsibility. As a result, the school was instructed by the court to pay Wu’s family ¥180,233.52 for their losses.
法院认为，学校未尽到教育和管理职责，应承担80%的责任。法院遂判决学校赔偿吴某家属损失180,233.52元。
More recently, in neighbouring Anhui Province, Xiaoli was then a 17-year-old student sleeping in a boarding school in Ma’anshan City. At 05:00 on 23 September, 2019, she accidentally fell from the bunk, resulting in a craniocerebral injury, leading to being classified later as having a Grade 8 Disability.
最近，在邻近的安徽省，小丽当时是一名 17 岁的学生，睡在马鞍山市的一所寄宿学校里。 2019年9月23日凌晨5点，她不慎从床上摔下，造成颅脑损伤，后被评定为八级伤残。
Once again, the local court ruled that the school should bear 80 percent of responsibility, and pay out to Xiaoli the total amount of ¥255,576.576.
当地法院再次判决学校承担80%的责任，并赔偿小丽共计255,576.576元。
The takeaway from these saddening events, particularly for parents about to see a child flee the nest, is to be extra vigilant as to health and safety issues in dormitory accommodations, no matter the school in China to which their child is destined.
从这些令人悲痛的事件中，尤其是对于即将看到孩子逃离家园的父母来说，要格外警惕宿舍住宿的健康和安全问题，无论孩子将就读中国的哪所学校。
