Editor's Note:

Two-year-old girl Yue Yue was ignored and left to die by more than a dozen passers-by after being run over by two vans in Foshan, South China's Guangdong province.

One, two, three…18 people simply walked by until a rag collector came to help the dying girl. The Chinese character for Yue means happiness. We just let “happiness” die.

It is more than a tragic traffic accident but an ominous sign of a collapsing social trust system. The accident also goes to the heart of many social problems like laws to protect the good Samaritans and the common sense of first aid when someone is in mortal danger.

In this special report we will analyze the issues it has raised, look at the history of the problems and outline possible solutions to make sure something so tragic never happens again.

 Latest: The girl Yue Yue was announced dead on early Friday morning. Related

Yue Yue:

Yue Yue, a 2-year-old girl was run over by two vehicles in Foshan, Guangdong province last week. She still remained close to brain dead as donations poured in for her and her rescuer.

Donations have poured in for Yue Yue and her rescuer, the 57-year-old woman Chen Xianmei. >>

Trust

About 87 percent of the respondents to a recent survey said the reason they are unlikely to help an old person who has fallen in the street is that they want to avoid being blamed for the accident. >>

Rescuer

Yue Yue's rescuer, Chen Xianmei, has meanwhile left Foshan for her hometown, Guangdong province's Qingyuan.

"My family's lives, especially my mother's, have been greatly disturbed by this accident," Yangcheng Evening News quoted Chen's son as saying.

Chen has been bewildered by the large number of requests for media interviews that she has received. Critics meanwhile have accused her of helping the girl merely out of a desire for publicity. >>

Blame?

The indifference of the passers-by is, without a doubt, partly responsible for the girl's current condition, said Annaliza Chan, a licensed psychology counselor in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

"But her parents are also to blame for neglecting to care for her. Why was the little girl alone on the road?"

Yue Yue's parents, who hail from Liaocheng in Shandong province, run a small shop in a Foshan hardware market containing more than 2,000 businesses.

"The girl often played alone outside of her parents' shop," said a shop owner who would only state his surname, Du. >>