Free Web NovelChapter 43: Chapter 43: A Sensory-Challenging Scene_1
Fifteen minutes later.
Zhou Ning had approached the intersection of Xinhai Expressway and Hong Kong Road, but the remaining distance of over a hundred meters had been blocked by cars. Zhou Ning got out of his car and ran quickly forward. When he reached the yellow isolation belt, a traffic cop stopped him.
Before Zhou Ning could show his credentials, a voice called out.
"Doctor Zhou is here, come over quickly!"
Looking towards the source of the voice, Zhao Xinli was waving in this direction. The cop who had stopped him quickly lifted the isolation belt, and Zhou Ning, breathing heavily, walked towards Zhao Xinli.
"What on earth happened? My mentor just called me, and he didn’t make it clear, just told me to hurry back."
Zhao Xinli led Zhou Ning toward the north side of the intersection, pointing to some smoking vehicles ahead as they walked.
"Half an hour ago, someone dialed 110 reporting that someone was driving a forklift like crazy at the intersection, hitting a lot of cars and pedestrians, which triggered a chain collision. Sixteen vehicles crashed into each other, killing one person. The forklift also toppled a large bus and caught fire itself.
Inside the big bus were the elderly members of the Sunset Red Tour Group, just about to set off. There were many injured. Xu Da received a call from the command center, and we came together, since someone had already died in the accident.
Unexpectedly, the forklift driver, thought to be fatally injured, suddenly woke up, ignited a barrel of oil, and the forklift exploded. At that moment, the large bus was flipped over and rolled twice before crashing into the green belt in the middle of the road.
There were many people who did not evacuate in time. Doctor Liu was very close and was also blown away, suffering a head injury. According to incomplete statistics, there have been three deaths, eleven severe injuries, and a hundred or so mild injuries."
Zhou Ning was stunned and grabbed Zhao Xinli’s sleeve urgently, his fingers growing slightly pale.
"How’s my mentor?"
Zhao Xinli waved his hand. He knew Zhou Ning was anxious, and since he hadn’t been clear, he quickly explained.
"Don’t worry, it’s just a cut on his head, probably a slight concussion. He was taken to the county hospital – no, now it’s called the Eighth Hospital – but we can’t deal with everything here on site. We are waiting for you to examine the forklift driver’s body. If it can be cleaned up, we need to restore traffic as soon as possible."
Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that Liu Yongxin was safe, but looking at the dire scene in front of him, he was also somewhat dazed.
There, in the middle of the highway’s central green belt, lay a large bus on its side, its front completely burned out. The ground was covered in water and traces of shattered glass, and not far from it was the skeleton of what used to be a forklift.
As for the body of the forklift driver, it was half inside and half outside of the vehicle, completely charred, with traces of dry powder remaining on it.
On both sides of the road, many police cars were parked, and on the roadside, there were several people with minor injuries — some standing, some sitting on the ground, some lying on the road, their eyes still filled with panic, a testament to the terror of the incident.
Zhou Ning and Zhao Xinli had arrived at the back of his car and had taken out the investigation box and camera. Zhou Ning took off his down jacket and put on a protective suit. After getting dressed, he handed Zhao Xinli stacks of yellow, red, orange, and blue number plates.
"The scene is too big. Get a few more people to help. Everyone put on hats, masks, and gloves. I’ll talk about the precautions, and then help me start the scene investigation. Only by doing this can we quickly clear the traffic."
Just then, Xu Dayuan and a burly middle-aged police officer approached. Xu Dayuan introduced:
"This is Doctor Zhou from our team, and this is Mr. Chen, the captain of the traffic police brigade. Zhao Xinli, get a few more people to come over and help. The sub-bureau leadership attaches great importance to this severe incident and has instructed us to set up a special case team to urgently investigate the cause of the incident."
By now, some police officers had already gathered around. Zhao Xinli distributed the materials, and Xu Dayuan spoke first:
"I won’t stress how urgent and heinous the incident is. At this time, don’t divide yourselves into traffic or criminal police. Just follow Doctor Zhou’s instructions and start assisting with the investigation. Doctor Zhou, you can assign the tasks."
Zhou Ning nodded and stepped forward.
"Zhao Xin will distribute the number plates to you. Starting from the explosion center, locate the glass fragments and bloodstains on the ground and place them accordingly. The higher the number, the farther it is from the explosion point, and so on. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
There were four colors in total, and we also divided it into four regions according to the cardinal directions of the explosion center: yellow for the southeast, red for the southwest, orange for the northwest, blue for the northeast.
Everyone keep in mind that you’re only to place markers, and must not move any items found. If you come across anything suspicious, you can call me over to identify it, such as suspicious explosives, limbs, various items that could be used to identify a body, and so on."
After Zhou Ning finished speaking, he looked towards Xu Dayuan, and with a wave of his hand, everyone sprung into action.
The advantage of having many people was evident, as the four teams spread out and began placing markers away from the central point.
Zhou Ning handed the camera to Zhao Xinli and, carrying the investigation kit, walked toward the forklift. The smell of charred flesh, that kind of irritation in the breathing passages, made one’s head tense, and Zhao Xinli gagged before still following closely behind.
With every direction from Zhou Ning’s finger, the sound of the camera shutter was constant.
The forklift was now indistinguishable in color, completely charred black; the upper half of the driver’s body lay sprawled on the ground, while the lower half was still on the forklift.
Upon closer inspection, Zhou Ning discovered that the victim’s feet had carbonized and were wedged between several control levers, as if fused with them. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
The entire body had carbonized, especially the fingers, which were already partially missing. Due to the position of the body, the victim’s face was not visible, and there were no remnants of knitted fabric. To the right of the body, there was a burst of black soot.
Zhou Ning squatted down and pushed the charred body with tweezers, revealing a piece of metal.
Zhou Ning picked it up and took a closer look, recognizing it as a metal component from a lighter.
Zhao Xinli hurried over, took a photo, and then poked his head out from behind the camera.
"A lighter! Probably the driver used a lighter to ignite the gasoline, which then triggered the explosion."
"Gasoline? Did anyone see him ignite the gasoline?"
"Yes, a traffic policeman on the perimeter saw this person make a movement, it seemed as though he grabbed some sort of jug, unscrewed it, and poured it towards the bus’s front before the explosion occurred."
Zhou Ning looked around and found a blasted-open plastic water jug tossed to one side; the jug was split open, the kind you could buy for a few bucks at a street stall, filled with thick black-brown tea stains.
However, the jug was missing its cap. Zhou Ning searched high and low, and finally, near the edge of the forklift’s frame on the right side, he found a piece of light blue plastic. Although it was deformed, it could still be made out as the cap of the jug.
Moreover, on the cap, remnants of an electrical copper wire were present, its insulation already gone. Zhou Ning leaned in close to smell, and indeed, there was a lingering scent of gasoline on the cap.
No wonder the victim’s hands were burned and incomplete—it seemed that it was also due to gasoline. He approached the body and tested the temperature with his fingers; luckily it was winter, so after turning to char, it was only somewhat hot to the touch now.
"Take pictures of the body, then get someone to prepare a body bag as well as those hydraulic cutters. We need to cut the body loose from those control levers and bring it back. As for fingerprints... well, we can forget about those."
Zhao Xinli turned to make arrangements; actually, the hearse had already arrived, and all kinds of tools were in place. Since the people from the fire department were already there, following Zhao Xinli’s instructions, they cut loose the parts entangled with the victim’s feet and even considerately trimmed off any protruding sections.
Once the body bag was laid out, Zhao Xinli and the others stepped forward, intending to move the victim’s body. Two people moved in close to lift, but the body wouldn’t budge. Zhou Ning walked over and let out a sigh.
"Let’s have more people help; all of us will lift together. The victim’s carbonized parts have somewhat fused with the road’s asphalt as he was burning, so we need to use some force to peel it off; otherwise, once it completely cools down, it would be even more tightly stuck."
Zhao Xinli raised his hand to stop Zhou Ning’s words; their faces had already turned a bit pale. They had seen many corpses in their line of work, but this was the first time encountering one burnt to char and still hot to the touch—it was a real challenge to the senses.
"Doctor Zhou really needs no introduction at this point, we’ll lift right now, and you just help watch."
Zhou Ning obediently closed his mouth, and this time, when everyone exerted force together, there was a crisp tearing sound as the carbonized body was lifted. Zhou Ning knelt on one knee and, seeing nothing left below, quickly waved his hand.
"Be gentle with your hands, move toward the body bag together, and be careful not to drop anything. Also, don’t pull too hard; the body is very fragile right now, and whoever tears it apart will have to pick it up."
