A son’s plan to build a memorial to his father and Wuhan’s coronavirus victims has come to an abrupt end

Zhang Hai, a 50-year-old man from Wuhan, lost his father to the novel coronavirus in February as the pandemic ravaged the central Chinese city. Two months later, Zhang, who is still unable to collect and bury his dad’s ashes, started a crowdfunding campaign to erect a memorial to his father and the 4,000 or so other Wuhan citizens who died from Covid-19—which lasted all of three days.

“Because of the initial cover-up of the virus by the Wuhan government, this man-made disaster took place and led to devastating experiences for many, including myself. I was hoping the memorial could remind the whole world of this tragedy and also pay tribute to the innocent people who died because they had not been warned about the disease early enough,” Zhang, who moved from Wuhan to Shenzhen more than 10 years ago, told Quartz. He envisaged a monument in Wuhan that would be painted in black, displaying the names and pictures of the deceased.

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