Chapter 43: A scene that challenges your senses
Fifteen minutes later.
Zhou Ning was already close to the intersection of Xinhai Expressway and Hong Kong Road, but the remaining distance of more than 100 meters was blocked by cars. Zhou Ning got out of the car and ran forward quickly. When he reached the yellow isolation belt, a traffic policeman stopped him.
Before Zhou Ning could take out his ID, a voice came.
"Forensic Doctor Zhou is here, come over quickly!"
Following the sound, he saw Zhao Xinli waving over here. The traffic policeman who was blocking the way quickly lifted the isolation tape, and Zhou Ning walked towards Zhao Xinli, panting.
"What happened? My master called me just now and didn't explain clearly. He just told me to come back as soon as possible."
Zhao Xinli led Zhou Ning to the north side of the intersection, pointing at some smoking vehicles in front and saying:
"Half an hour ago, someone called 110 to report that someone was driving a forklift at an intersection like crazy, hitting many cars and pedestrians, causing a chain accident. Sixteen cars collided and one person died. The forklift also overturned a bus and smoked.
Inside the bus were the elderly people from the Sunset Red Tour Group who were about to set off. There were many injured people. When Xu Da received a call from the command center, we came together because someone had already died in the accident.
Unexpectedly, the forklift driver who was thought to be seriously injured and dead suddenly woke up and ignited the oil barrel. The forklift exploded, and the bus was blown away and turned over twice before crashing into the green belt in the middle of the road.
There were many people who didn't evacuate in time. Forensic Doctor Liu was very close and was also blown up, with a head injury. According to incomplete statistics, three people died, eleven were seriously injured, and about 180 people were slightly injured."
Zhou Ning was stunned and eagerly grabbed Zhao Xinli's sleeve, his fingers turning white.
"How is my master?"
Zhao Xinli waved his hands. He knew Zhou Ning was anxious, and he didn't explain clearly, so he quickly explained.
"Don't worry, it's just a cut on the head, probably a slight concussion. The person was also sent to the county hospital, no, it's called the Eighth Hospital now, but we can't handle it here. We want you to come and see the body of the forklift driver. If it can be cleaned up, we need to restore traffic as soon as possible."
Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief, as long as Liu Yongxin was okay. However, he was also a little dazed when he saw the tragic scene in front of him.
I saw a large bus lying on its side on the green belt in the middle of the road. The front of the bus had been burned and there were traces of water and broken glass on the ground. Not far away from it was the forklift that had been burned to a skeleton.
As for the forklift driver's body , half of it was outside the vehicle and half was inside. It was completely carbonized and there were still traces of dry powder on it.
There were many police cars parked on both sides of the road, and there were some people with minor injuries on the roadside. Some were standing, some were sitting on the ground, and some were lying on the road. The panic in their eyes was still there, which showed how terrifying the incident was.
Zhou Ning and Zhao Xinli had already come to the back of his car and took out the survey box and camera. Zhou Ning took off his down jacket and put on an isolation suit. After getting dressed, he handed several stacks of yellow, red, orange and blue number plates to Zhao Xinli.
"The scene is too big, so find a few more people to help. They all wear hats, masks and gloves. I will tell them the precautions, and then help me start the on-site survey. Only in this way can we quickly divert traffic."
Just as he said this, Xu Dayuan and a burly middle-aged policeman came over. Xu Dayuan introduced:
"This is Xiao Zhou, the forensic doctor in our team. This is Captain Chen from the traffic police brigade. Zhao Xinli, please find a few more people to come over and help. The branch leaders attach great importance to this vicious incident here. They asked us to set up a special case team to investigate the cause of the incident as soon as possible."
At this time, some policemen had come around. Zhao Xinli distributed the items. Xu Dayuan said first:
"I won't stress how urgent the situation is or how serious it is. At this moment, regardless of whether you are a traffic police officer or a criminal police officer, listen to Xiao Zhou's instructions and start assisting in the investigation. Xiao Zhou, you will assign the tasks."
Zhou Ning nodded and took a step forward.
"Zhao Xinli will distribute number plates to you. Start from the center of the explosion and place the glass fragments and bloodstains on the ground. The larger the number, the farther away from the explosion point, and so on.
There are four colors in total. We also divided the area into four areas for investigation according to the north, south, east and west of the explosion center: yellow southeast area, red southwest area, orange northwest area, and blue northeast area.
Everyone remember to just place the items, and do not move the items you find. If there are any suspicious items, you can call me to identify them, such as suspected explosives, body parts, various items to prove identity, etc. ”
After Zhou Ning finished speaking, he looked at Xu Dayuan. Xu Dayuan waved his hand and everyone started moving.
This is the advantage of having more people. The four teams spread out and placed number plates starting from the center point.
Zhou Ning handed the camera to Zhao Xinli, and walked to the forklift carrying the survey box. The smell of the burning corpse and the irritation in the respiratory tract made his brain tighten. Zhao Xinli gagged, but still followed over.
The sound of camera shutters continued as Zhou Ning pointed.
The color of the forklift could no longer be distinguished, it was completely charred black. The driver's upper body was crawling on the ground, and his lower body was still on the forklift.
Zhou Ning took a closer look and found that the dead man's feet had been carbonized and were stuck between several joysticks, as if they were fused into one.
The entire body has been carbonized, especially the fingers of the hands have been mutilated. Due to the body position, the face of the deceased cannot be seen, and there is no remaining knitted fabric. There is a black mark of an explosion on the right side of the body.
Zhou Ning squatted down and pushed the charred corpse with tweezers, and a piece of metal was revealed.
Zhou Ning picked it up and identified it carefully. It was the metal part of the lighter.
Zhao Xinli came over quickly, took a picture and stuck his head out from behind the camera.
"Lighter! I guess it was this driver who used a lighter to ignite the gasoline, which caused the explosion."
"Gasoline? Did anyone see him light up the gasoline?"
"Well, a traffic police officer outside saw the man move. He seemed to grab a pot and threw it at the front of the bus. Then the explosion happened."
Zhou Ning looked around and saw an exploded plastic kettle thrown to the side. The body of the kettle was cracked. It was the kind of plastic kettle that sold for a few dollars at street stalls. There was a thick layer of dark brown tea stains inside.
However, the kettle had no lid. Zhou Ning searched up and down and finally found a piece of light blue plastic on the edge of the frame on the right side of the forklift. Although it was deformed, it could be seen that this was the kettle lid.
Moreover, there was a piece of copper wire from a circuit still on the lid, but the sheath of the copper wire was gone. Zhou Ning leaned over to smell it, and sure enough, there was still the smell of gasoline on the lid.
No wonder his hands were burned and broken. It seemed that it was because of the gasoline. I put my fingers close to the corpse and tested the temperature. Fortunately, it was winter and the body was only a little hot after being burned into charcoal.
"Take pictures of the body, and have someone prepare a body bag, and the hydraulic pliers. We need to cut off the body and the joysticks and take them back. As for fingerprints... forget about that."
Zhao Xinli turned around to make arrangements. In fact, the funeral home's car had arrived long ago, and all kinds of tools were in place. The firefighters were also there, and according to Zhao Xinli's instructions, they came up and cut off the parts that were wrapped around the deceased's feet, and were also considerate enough to cut off the overgrown parts.
After the body bag was placed, Zhao Xinli and others stepped forward and wanted to move the body of the deceased. Two of them came closer and lifted it, but the body didn't move at all. Zhou Ning walked over and sighed.
"Come on, let's lift it together. When the deceased was just burned, the carbonized part was somewhat fused with the asphalt on the road, so we need to use some force to peel it off. Otherwise, when it cools down completely, it will stick even more tightly."
Zhao Xinli raised his hand to stop Zhou Ning from speaking. Their faces had turned pale. In this line of work, they had seen many dead bodies, but this was the first time they had seen one burnt into charcoal, and it was still very hot, which was too challenging to the senses.
"Let's not introduce Xiao Jianzhou to me. We'll lift it now. Please help me take a look."
Zhou Ning obediently shut up. This time, several people worked together , and with a crackling sound, the carbonized corpse was lifted up. Zhou Ning knelt on one knee and saw that there was nothing left underneath, so he quickly waved his hand.
"Be gentle with your hands, and move towards the body bag together. Be careful not to drop anything, and don't tear it too hard. The body is very fragile now. Whoever tears it will pick it up."
