The drivers who shamed China: Two arrested in death of two-year-old Yue Yue - who was run over TWICE as dozens of people ignored her lying in the road
Police identified drivers through the grisly video that showed toddler's tragic accident
Announcement of her death quickly became the most talked about topic on China's version of Twitter
Lawmakers set to meet to discuss introduction of 'Good Samaritan' legislation
Country's economic boom and disparity between rich and poor have made changing social values a contentious topic
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 12:48 PM on 24th October 2011
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Two drivers suspected of running over a Chinese toddler who later died from her injuries have been arrested after a police investigation, newspaper reported Sunday.
The Beijing News and other outlets reported that police in the city of Foshan concluded their initial investigation and ordered the two men formally arrested, a step that almost always leads to a trial.
It did not say what they were being charged with and calls to Foshan police were unanswered.
Scroll down for the video... Warning: Graphic content
Yue Yue was left with horrific brain injuries following the accident and she never recovered
Unaware: Video footage shows the youngster crossing the road at Guangfo Hardware Market, without realising the van approaching her
Her devastated mother and father try to come to terms with their loss
Two-year-old Wang Yue was struck by the vehicles on a busy market street on October 13, and the gruesome ordeal was captured by security camera footage.
The horrific video showed the bleeding child ignored by 18 passersby before she was picked up by a scrap picker and given to her mother, who rushed to the street looking for her.
A week after the accident, the child was dead.
Police said they were able to identify the vehicles from the footage.
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The video of the incident quickly spread via the internet causing shock around the world and triggered a bout of bitter soul searching in China about the nations apparent moral decay in the midst of an economic boom.
As a result people in China called upon the government to introduce a 'Good Samaritan law' to punish passersby who refuse to help people in need.
Yue Yue pictured as she is held by her mother with her older brother in the foreground
The case triggered a furor across the nation, which questioned how such callousness could occur - with some blaming it a descent into an 'immoral modern society'.
China's economic boom and the growing disparity between the rich and poor have made changing social values a contentious topic, with some lamenting what they see as materialism replacing morals.
Yue Yue's death quickly became the most talked about topic on China's version of Twitter, Sina's Weibo.
Gongzai Xiaoben posted: 'I hope that this little angel who was discarded by society can act as a wake-up call to the nation about the importance of moral education.'
Winter space added: 'Hope you can find some love in heaven. This world is full of apathy.'
Her father had received more than 270,000 yuan ($42,280) to help pay for Wang's medical treatment after receiving donations from across the globe.
One local Communist party chief urged 'searching reflection' over the incident, according to the official Guangzhou Daily.
'Take active and effective steps to raise the moral standards of the entire society,' he told a meeting of province officials.
Wang Yang, a top official, told a high-level provincial meeting that the tragedy of Yue Yue should be a 'wake-up call' for society and that such incidents should not be allowed to occur again.
'We should look into the ugliness in ourselves with a dagger of conscience and bite the soul-searching bullet.'
Many people in China are hesitant to help people who appear to be in distress for fear that they will be blamed.
Yue Yue's parents received donations from across the world to help them pay for hospital treatment
High-profile lawsuits have ended with Good Samaritans ordered to pay hefty fines to individuals they sought to help.
In Guangdong, where Yue Yue lived her brief life, the local party branch and government are attempting to apply a sticky plaster over Chinese society's gaping wound by discussing a new law to make it illegal for people to ignore strangers in distress.
Lawyer Zhu Yongping says that the province could establish a Good Samaritan law as a local law, but it is difficult to define the motives of a person in each individual case.
A group of lawyers will discuss the idea next month and push for related legislation.
Despite its current social conditions, the Chinese government can point to some positive achievements, having lifted 400 million out of poverty to create a new middle class living in modern high rises in futuristic cities and peasants finding new lives in the factory boom towns.
The vast majority of Chinese are literate and many well educated. Many are poor but none are starving.
Yue Yue is hit by the van, which fails to stop, leaving her lying in the road. The driver has since been arrested
Eventually a woman dragged Yue Yue to the side of the road before her mother arrived on the scene
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