Chinese Internet users have stormed microblogs with criticism of the apathy, which bordered on cruelty, of the passersby. Many users have called for the government to encourage people to be good Samaritans.

Their enthusiasm, however, was soon dampened by the plight of a good Samaritan in Shanghai.

Only three days after the tragedy, Yin Qiliang, a shuttle bus driver for a Shanghai supermarket, found himself in trouble for helping an elderly woman who had fallen down.

The woman fell to the ground shortly after getting off Yin's bus on Oct. 16. Seeing that she was unconscious and vomiting, Yin called police and later accompanied the woman to hospital.

The woman died the next day, leaving Yin in an uncomfortable situation as her relatives suspected he was responsible for her fall.

If no witness comes forth to prove his innocence, Yin could be charged with "causing injury through traffic offenses," lose his job and pay high comensation to the woman's family.

A Shanghai newspaper posted on its microblog Tuesday, calling on Internet users to help find people who witnessed the incident.

The message was forwarded over 10,000 times in the last two days, but as of Thursday, no witness had come forth. Some Shanghai residents assumed this was because shuttle bus passengers were mostly retirees and rarely used microblogs.

A doctor with Shanghai's Changhai Hospital, where the woman was treated, said she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. The hospital has yet to confirm her cause of death.

The woman had no spouse or children. Her only relatives are a brother and a sister, both of whom declined Xinhua's requests for an interview.

Yin's situation reminded the public of a high-profile lawsuit in 2006 which ended with a good Samaritan being ordered to pay substantial fines to the individual he tried to help.

Peng Yu, a driver from eastern Jiangsu Province, helped a fallen elderly woman who later blamed him for causing her fall. The court ruled against Peng, who was forced to pay the woman nearly 46,000 yuan in compensation.

Despite being outraged at recent displays of insensitivity toward those in distress, many Internet users confessed they too might hesitate to help, fearing they could end up in situations similar to Peng and Yin.

These concerns could help explain why some passersby pretended they did not see Yueyue.

"It's not right to confuse moral and legal issues anyway," wrote a netizen identified as Xiaomei. "I think few people would risk being a good Samaritan unless their own rights were protected by the law."

Though it would be complicated to enforce laws on moral issues, Zhu said such a law would improve the behaviour of Chinese people who witness another person's misfortune.

Shanghai and Shenzhen are already mulling regulations to protect good Samaritans, according to Chen Bo, a lawyer in central Henan Province.

Shanghai's draft regulation, expected to be unveiled next year, will stipulate rewards for good Samaritans and social security schemes for those injured or disabled while helping others.

Shenzhen's regulation, on the other hand, aims to protect good Samaritans from being blamed.

(Han Ximin)