'We Thought He Was Sleeping': Dead Man At Internet Cafe In China Goes Unnoticed For 30 Hours

In a bizarre case, the workers at an internet cafe in China did not realise that one of their customers had “died”. The deceased, whose identity is not revealed, had checked in for a long gaming session on June 1. On the night of June 3, at 10 pm, one cafe worker tried to wake him up but found him unresponsive and noticed that the man’s body felt cold. The distressed worker called the police, who declared him dead. The incident took place in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province.

News portal Jimu News reported that the internet cafe workers believed that the 29-year-old man was sleeping, which is why they did not wake him up. He was their regular customer and would spend up to 6 hours playing. The deceased once paused his gaming session at 6 am on June 2 to get breakfast. A police official told the South China Morning Post, “Based on the breakfast residuals left on the desk, he did not have lunch on June 2. He possibly died suddenly on the morning of June 2.” The police added that the investigation is underway.

In their defence, the internet cafe boss explained that the man looked healthy and they were used to seeing him spend a long time at the cafe. He also added that gamers routinely fall asleep between their gaming sessions. The cafe workers avoid waking them as the customers then become irritable and “scold” them.

The man’s brother-in-law, surnamed Chen, told the South China Morning Post that because his family did not consent to an autopsy, they won’t be able to determine the time of death. Chen questioned why his brother-in-law’s death was not noticed for over a day. Chen argued, “He sat in an open area instead of a closed partition. There should have been employees checking on him and noticing his strange behaviour,”

For context, the internet cafes in China, called Wangba, are different from the ones in India. The Wangba is a hub for the gaming community. Most Wangba establishments run for 24 hours. Many people also take admission to an overnight open wangba to get a cheap place to spend the night. Usually, these internet cafes have fast food and drinks within the shop that customers use to have meals or snacks. Many wangba-related companies shut down during the pandemic and those who are still running are struggling to cash in the same revenue as before.