Passersby on a street in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, on December 29, watch as an elderly man lies dying on the pavement after collapsing. Two women reportedly attempted to assist him, but soon changed their minds after they were reminded that their actions would likely be recorded by surveillance cameras.

Passers-by watched and decided not to help an elderly man who had collapsed and was slowly dying in front of them on a street in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, on Wednesday, the Southeast Express reported Thursday.

The 83-year-old pensioner surnamed Zheng collapsed as he was walking in the street. He lay there dying, bleeding from the mouth and his hands shaking.

Two young women started to attend to Zheng, but one onlooker reminded them that CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras would likely be recording their actions, and that they would not be able to prove that they did not harm the man. The women apparently stopped trying to help Zheng themselves, and instead called the police and ambulance service.

A doctor later pronounced Zheng dead at the scene.

One witness surnamed Chen told reporters that stones on the pavement may have caused Zheng to trip.

In 2006, a man called Peng Yu, in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, accompanied an injured elderly woman to hospital, but she later sued him for pushing her and causing her to fracture her leg. The court ordered Peng to pay 40,000 yuan in damages to the woman.