[ABOVE: On July 29, 2011, a social media user in China posted this photo of an empty car on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Rail, noting: “Comrades, this is Car Two on the high-speed train departing at 4pm today.” Twenty percent of seats were reportedly vacant on the high-speed rail before the July 23 crash. Now, confidence in the system has apparently plummeted.]




[ABOVE: Audio of relatives of July 23 crash victims voice their frustrations to Premier Wen Jiabao when he visits the crash site on July 28.]

[ABOVE: Citizens plead for justice during Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to the crash site in Wenzhou.]

[ABOVE: Chinese social media users pay tribute to Wang Qinglei (王青雷), the producer of China Central Television’s “24 Hours” program, who was fired this week for his outspokenness in coverage of the July 23 tragedy.]

[ABOVE: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets with relatives of victims on July 28 (see audio file above)].

[ABOVE: On July 29, relatives of victims place flowers at the scene of the July 23 crash.]

[ABOVE: Cartoonist Kuang Biao, a regular drawing for Southern Metropolis Daily, drew this chilling piece, in which death is depicted bearing the scoop from a digger rather than a scythe, a clear reference to the expedience and carelessness with which the rescue effort was handled.]

[ABOVE: A user on social media posted this animated image on July 29, in which they utter a highly impolite expletive. The caption reads: “For the railway ministry.”]

[ABOVE: Aggressive coverage by Chinese media has been one of the biggest subplots of this tragic story. Here, journalists rush out to cover the visit to the scene by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.]

[ABOVE: An expanse of fresh flowers left at the crash site on July 29 in memory of those who died in the July 23 crash.]

[ABOVE: Web users share photos of Xiang Yu’an (项余岸) and Shi Lihong (施李红), the father and mother of 2-year-old crash survivor Xiang Weiyi (项炜伊), both of whom died on July 23. Weiyi has been called the “miracle girl” in the midst of this disaster.]