0:00 On September 5th, the fourth round of the 2026 China GT Championship sponsored by Shell Mei was held at the Shanghai International Circuit. About 18 minutes into the race during lap seven of the first GT3 race, a terrifying accident occurred on the track. Near the end of the long straight before turn 14, car number 33, a BMW, and car number 37, a Ferrari, lost control while battling and crashed into the side fuel tank area of car number 91. The Ferrari driven by British Fist Auto driver Ollie Millroy was severely damaged and went into the run-off area, where it immediately burst into flames. A fireball and thick smoke quickly engulfed the cockpit. Millroy
0:47 was trapped inside and unable to move freely, leaving him in extreme danger. At that critical moment, shocking scene from the Chinese rescue team emerged. Videos from the track show that on the right side of the burning number 91 car, a track worker carrying a fire extinguisher walked towards the vehicle, but turned around and ran away when he was still several yards away. Viewers questioned, "Did he run away because he was scared?" Shortly afterward, another worker arrived carrying a fire extinguisher. The footage showed him repeatedly trying to operate the device and remove the safety pin, but he failed to activate it and put out the fire. During the process, a rescue vehicle arrived, but another security worker stepped out who also appeared unable to properly use the fire extinguisher. At the critical moment, Dutch driver Loek
1:33 Hartog, who was driving the number 79 Porsche, passed through the accident area. Hartog immediately abandoned the race, stopped his car, and rushed towards the burning vehicle. Videos showed Hartog first trying to approach the car, but the intense flames and extreme heat prevented him from getting close. He then searched for a fire extinguisher and fought the cockpit fire before eventually pulling the the 91 driver out of the burning car. The entire rescue took about 49 seconds. After Milroy was rescued, delay occurred again during the medical response. According to number 33 driver Young Bay Jin, who was competing in the same race, the standby ambulance arranged by the event did not arrive at the scene until 15 minutes after the crash.
2:18 Related information indicated that the ambulance failed to respond immediately because the driver on duty had fallen asleep inside the vehicle and could not be woken up even when people knocked on the window. Even more troubling was that after the accident, the event broadcast team appeared to portray the incident as if the driver had walked out of the cockpit by himself and even disabled the comment section. The crash left Milroy with five broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and a hand fracture, and lung contusions. He will need to undergo multiple surgeries. Afterward, Milroy said his survival was entirely thanks to Hartog. With no marshals or firefighters effective rescue, Hartog risked his own life to save him, and he said he would remember the heroic act for the rest of
3:04 his life. It is worth noting that after returning to the pit area, Hartog, who saved Milroy, was seen covering his face and crying. Later, when Milroy thanked him, Hartog humbly said he did not consider his actions heroic, but simply something anyone would do instinctively. He said he was grateful to have been in the right place at the right time to help. Hartog is a top Dutch racing driver who has achieved outstanding results in Porsche one-make racing and global GT competitions. He won the highest honor in the 2025 Porsche Cup and helped his team win the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America Pro Class Championship. One commenter wrote, "At just 23 years old, Hartog saw someone trapped in a
3:50 fire, and his first reaction was to save a life. A group of people responsible for rescue saw a major accident and their first reaction was to run away. The people in charge of the event, their first reaction was to shift blame and control public opinion. The difference in how they value human life is the difference between heaven and hell. This is the completely different result shaped by different systems and cultures. After the race, Yang Baidie, the number 33 driver from the 610 racing team, revealed more disturbing details on social media. As one of the cars involved in the crash, the number 33 car was very close to the number 91 Ferrari. Yang said at the time rescue workers dropped their fire extinguishers because they were afraid. The ambulance did not
4:36 arrive until 50 minutes later. After the race, the stewards asked us to the hearing room without knowing whether the drivers were safe. They did not offer a single word of concern or comfort, nor did they ask about the condition of the other two drivers. They also did not mention the slow rescue response during the event. What angered Yang even more was that the stewards even tried to shift the blame onto them in attempt to reduce the negative impact of the incident. One commenter sarcastically wrote, "See, this is a legacy of the Chinese Communist Party. Whenever something bad happens, the first thing the CCP does is to try to calm public opinion. They are always thinking about how to reduce the negative impact. When the top is corrupt, the bottom follows. From the government to businesses, from leaders
5:23 to ordinary people, whenever something happens, their first concern is not the victims or how to do better. What they care about most is how to cover up the truth and avoid accountability." On the evening of September 5th, the official Weibo account of the Fist Auto Team issued a strongly worded statement. The statement said the event organizer had serious failures in emergency response and safety rescue measures with major flaws in the rescue procedures that nearly resulted in a tragedy. The team specifically pointed out that during the live broadcast event staff failed to verify the situation and hastily reported that the driver had exited the car on his own. The actual situation was that the number 91 driver was rescued from the burning vehicle by number 79 driver
6:10 Luke Hautook. The team expressed its highest respect for Hautook's courageous act of risking himself to save another person. The statement also said that driver safety is an absolute bottom line in motorsports. After the accident, the organizers failed to immediately deploy sufficient medical resources and have so far not issued any official apology to the team or those involved over the major failures exposed by the incident. The team said the organizers' actions ignoring the risk to human life, allowing inaccurate information to be broadcast, and downplaying the seriousness of the crash were highly irresponsible and violated industry standards. In protest, Fist Auto announced that it would withdraw from all future China GT events until the organizing committee completes a full independent and public
6:57 investigation into all issues related to the rescue failures and provides an official response to the team. The team also made three demands: immediately launch a comprehensive investigation and publicly disclose the full details of the accident, formally apologize to the team, drivers, and families affected by the inadequate rescue response, and carry out systematic reforms to track safety, emergency rescue procedures, broadcast review, and official information releases. Yang Baizhe also announced that he would permanently withdraw from China GT in protest. He said he had submitted his onboard video footage to the WEC stewards who provided a professional assessment that he was not the primary cause of the accident. Yang said he would take legal action if China GT
7:43 continued to avoid responsibility. In its response on September 6th, the organizing committee said in a preliminary review found that the event configuration met national-level competition requirements, but admitted that detail management still needs improvement. A media professional who has followed motorsports for years said after watching the footage that the center of a race car fire can reach temperatures of 1,472°F to 1,832°F. And every second of delay can be a matter of life and death. Compared with the 2020 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix crash involving Romain Grosjean, the China GT Shanghai incident was a complete negative example.
8:29 On November 29th, 2020, during the first lap of the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix, Haas driver Romain Grosjean crashed into a steel barrier at about 119 mph. The impact reached a peak force of 67 G. The car broke into two pieces. The survival cell pierced the barrier and leaking fuel caused a massive fire. Footage from the Bahrain Grand Prix rescue showed that the FIA medical car arrived at the scene within about 10 seconds of the crash. Medical car driver Alan van der Merwe and FIA doctor Dr. Ian Roberts immediately rushed into action. Roberts ran towards the burning wreckage to help Grosjean, while van der Merwe retrieved fire-fighting equipment. At the same
9:16 time, the nearest track marshal arrived carrying a large fire extinguisher. In the video, the marshal sprayed the extinguishing agent accurately towards the cockpit area and from behind the barrier, suppressing parts of the flame. Grosjean freed himself from the seatbelt and climbed out of the cockpit after being trapped for about 27 seconds. Dr. Roberts then helped pull him over the barrier and extinguish the remaining flames on his racing suit. Under FIA standards, when a serious crash involves a fire, nearby rescue marshals should arrive within fire fighting equipment within 15 to 30 seconds, while the medical car must respond within extremely short time frame. The Bahrain rescue personnel demonstrated a high level of professionalism. By comparison, the
10:03 response from staff during the China GT Shanghai accident appeared completely unprofessional and disorganized. Videos related to the crash sparked widespread discussion after being posted on social media platforms. One commenter said, "Chinese society from top to bottom has become a complete mess with no professionalism or sense of responsibility. Whether it is senior officials, so-called professionals, or ordinary people at the grassroot level, it is the same everywhere. Look at the footage from CCTV news during the Tibet landslide rescue, where rescuers appeared to pretend to shovel dirt in front of the cameras. A normal person should not have unrealistic hopes for this country." Another comment said, "In this kind of environment, everyone protects themselves, everyone lives in fear, and the little humanity that remains is
10:49 being suppressed." Some commenters also said that during the recent Tibet-Nepal border landslide disaster, the Chinese authorities failed to rescue a single person. They said the contrast with Nepal was like day and night. One commenter asked, "Would you expect to be saved at this kind of racing event?" They argue that behind China's image of rapid development is an extremely unprofessional governing system, and that once economic growth slows down, these problems will become visible. Another commenter said, "I knew right away that the rescue workers at the scene was probably a temporary worker. Why would someone risk their life for just 200 yuan a day? The organizers only cared about cutting costs and making money. They keep saying they are far ahead in and but when something goes wrong, the truth comes out. Another commenter wrote, "There will be no real
11:35 result if the event committee investigates itself. Anyone can guess that the person who grabbed a fire extinguisher, but did not know how to use it, was probably someone with connections who was just there to get paid. The ambulance driver fell asleep, but where was the medical doctor? Or was there only one driver inside the ambulance? Nobody would believe there was no corruption involved." As some commenters pointed out, a recent cross-border landslide disaster highlighting a shocking contrast between the rescue efforts and outcomes of China and Nepal. The Chinese rescue response was described by critics as a staged performance and a photo opportunity with the disaster being treated as a chance for political propaganda. Footage circulating online showed what critics described as a staged rescue scene. Rescuers appeared to shovel empty ground with their tools without even lifting
12:21 any soil. One commenter mocked, "They were already acting in front of the cameras. At least dig up some dirt and complete the performance." To stage something like this is beyond belief. It shows how deeply corrupted the system has become. More controversially, some online users accused officials and rescue personnel of eating large amounts of food at the disaster site while no one had been rescued. There were also accusations that Chinese search engine Baidu published Nepal rescue footage with a red star digitally added into the camouflage uniforms of Nepalese rescue personnel. Critics questioned what message the edit was intended to convey. One commenter mocked, "Why not just add the national flag while you're at it? I have never seen anything so shameless." By contrast, Nepalese rescue teams entered the disaster zone and continued
13:07 reporting successful rescues under extremely difficult conditions. On September 5th, a Chinese worker named Liu Haitao was rescued after being trapped for 11 days inside a tunnel about 738 ft long at the Upper Trishuli 1 Hydro Power Project in Nepal. He was rescued by a joint team involving the Nepalese military and foreign experts. One commenter said, "He really should thank God. He was lucky to have been buried on the Nepal side rather than the Chinese side." Some commenters were also angered by remarks from the Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Zhang Malming, who visited Liu Haitao in the hospital. They accused him of implying that China was responsible for the rescue. One commenter asked, "How could he make it
13:53 sound like China saved him?" Another commenter wrote, "Is it the same pattern as a communist military's anti-Japanese war propaganda? People who merely watched from the sidelines and took credit afterwards are portrayed as the backbone of the effort." Another commenter said, "When he returns, just watch. He will be told to thank the country." Some online users also noted that Nepal deployed helicopters multiple times during the landslide response with about 20 helicopters operating simultaneously at the peak of search and rescue and supply missions. They said Nepal rescued many affected people using the Airbus AS350 Ecureuil helicopter, which was extremely strong high-altitude performance and is the only helicopter to have landed on the summit of Mount
14:39 Everest. Nepal operates 27 of these helicopters, while China has more than 100. However, they claimed that not a single one was deployed for this disaster response. Let's look at the rescue results from both sides. According to the latest report from Nepalese police, 1,344 bodies have been found in the disaster area, while 4,898 people remain missing. Nepal's disaster response agency said it mobilized 20,000 security personnel to search and rescue operations and rescue more than 13,000 people. By comparison, according to a report from China's state media, Xinhua News Agency, as of 6:00 p.m. on September 4th, the landslide disaster at the Gyiron port on the Chinese side of the Tibet-Nepal border has left 43
15:24 people dead and 519 missing. 11 days after the disaster, the number of people rescued remained at zero. Beyond this once-in-a-century landslide disaster along the China-Nepal border, China's southeastern coast has also recently been hit by the remnants of Typhoon Saudel and extreme rainfall. Areas including Fujian and Jiangxi have experienced flooding, collapsed embankments, and landslides at the same time, causing casualties. Residents have complained that the Chinese government failed to provide effective rescue efforts and instead focused on controlling public opinion and suppressing information. Putian, Fujian province, was one of the hardest-hit areas in this round of domestic disasters. Videos uploaded online after the disaster showed collapsed houses,
16:10 blocked roads, and widespread destruction across multiple villages. On September 4th, a large landslide occurred in Gongli Village in Putian City, Fujian province. According to the person who posted the video, the landslide destroyed more than 10 homes. As of September 6th, several people were still buried or missing. A family member at the scene broke down in tears after failing to find her mother and publicly accused the local government of failing to carry out rescue efforts. However, instead of addressing the family's pleas, local Chinese officials restricted outside access to the accident site, banned photography and video recording, and limited or blocked online posts about the disaster. Even after the rain stopped and the weather cleared, the disaster was far from over. Many old earthen houses and brick and
16:57 wood structures, weakened after prolonged water exposure, began collapsing one after another. Local residents wrote online that houses in neighboring areas were collapsing one by one with loud bangs. When buildings on the east side fell, others on the west side followed. Many people were too frightened to sleep and said they were close to suffering mental breakdowns. A resident from Xiejing Village in Xiuyu Gongchen Subdistrict, Licheng District told the paper that starting on the afternoon of September 3rd, the village heard a collapse almost every two to three minutes on average. Official rescue efforts in Putian were slow after the disaster. Besides relying on themselves, residents continued posting online appeals for help. Residents from
17:42 Jiudong Village near the Houlan Xi Bridge in Putian posted online that the area had lost water and electricity for more than 100 households, including many elderly people and children, and called for assistance. Village officials from Shanpai Village in Putian City also issued an online appeal saying more than 1,500 affected residents are still without water and electricity and urgently need supplies and support from all sectors of society. When local residents shared a notice from the village committee, they said the biggest shortages were clean water and dry food, and that many villagers were going hungry. The Chinese authorities have repeatedly failed to handle disasters effectively, turning natural disasters into man-made tragedies. During this round of heavy
18:28 rainfall, Fujian's water authorities launched a so-called joint reservoir operation system to manage reservoir in real time. In Xianyou County, Putian, 58 of the county's 121 reservoirs overflowed. When residents from different villages spoke with overseas media, some said they had been notified that upstream reservoirs were releasing water, but no evacuation orders were issued. Others said they received no notification at all about reservoir discharges. This is the Chinese authorities' management approach. During a supercar championship, emergency rescue became an international embarrassment. During a cross-border landslide disaster, the comparison with the Poles' response exposes failure to the world and inside
19:15 China, disaster relief has repeatedly turned into a series of man-made tragedies. The fact continues to show that the Chinese Communist Party is essentially a system unable to withstand any sudden crisis, a makeshift operation that collapses under pressure. >> [music] [music]
