A man playing dead as part of a stunt in Beijing, China, was unable to complete his task due to the heat wave that is currently engulfing the city.
A staged protest had been arranged to show that city officials had beaten a sidewalk vendor to death in central China, however the individual who was cast to play the dead man failed at his one and only task.
The man was supposed to hide under a white sheet on the street, however because of the ridiculous heat he shot up and then asked for a bottle of water halfway through his performance.
Xinhua News Agency has quoted the man as saying, “It’s too hot. I can’t bear it anymore.”
Xinhua added that around a dozen men had come together on Saturday to place the supposedly dead vendor’s body on a gurney before they then carried his “carcass” through Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei provincial.
The group were set to ask for several thousands of dollars in compensation for the death, and their project had gathered quite a lot of attention as around 80 police officers and 300 citizens had gathered to support their endeavor.
However, after around two hours underneath the sheet, the man on the stretcher, who was only know under his surname, Han, arose and pleaded for water. Instead, he was arrested because he disturbed social order.
Han went on to tell police officers that employees for the urban management had clashed with vendors as their drinks stands were apparently blocking traffic. They then devised this plan to deal with the chengguan, who are often accused of beating people in the street despite having no legal authority to.
It is still unknown how they planned to press claims agains the murder, as they didn’t have a body to actually submit for an investigation.