A Communist Party official had a meltdown for the ages at an airport in south-central China, flying into a rage after his family missed a flight for the second day in a row.
Yan Linkun, identified by NBC News as “a deputy chairman of a mining company and a member of a Communist Party political advisory body,” smashed gate agents’ computers into a wall and to the ground. His fury continued for several minutes, with Yan next taking debris from the destroyed computers and smashing it against the glass wall that separated him from the walkway to his flight.
What set Yan off? The Shanghai Daily reports he was traveling with his wife and two 10-year-old sons. The family missed a Feb. 5 flight to Shenzhen and were rebooked for a flight the following day. Citing local reports, The Wall Street Journal’s China Real Time Report says the family missed their second flight “after going to eat breakfast in the airport” and missing the boarding announcements.
That, according to reports, is what set Yan off into the rage seen on the video.
NBC News adds “his wife, whose name has not been reported, also gets in on the act, and smashes what appears to be a coffee cup midway through the video.”
The incident happened Feb. 6, but apparently did not hit the press until surveillance video of the episode was leaked and posted online Friday. Since then, the video has gone viral and has now been viewed by tens of millions across the globe.
The episode drew condemnation via Chinese social media.
“That’s just how a rich man acts,” NBC quotes one user as saying via Weibo, a Chinese service similar to Twitter. “He who has wealth speaks louder than others.”
Yan has been suspended by his mining company employer as a result of the uproar that has followed incident.
The Communist Party also is considering whether it should take action, according to local reports. Yan also could face criminal charges.
Yan apologized, telling the Shanghai Daily: “I failed to be a qualified political adviser as well as a good father.”
~Eowyn
