Image showing an ATM in China. For representational purposes.
Credit: iStock Photo
A quick-witted Chinese girl who found her way back to her family using an ATM has garnered praise on social media.
Hailing from Quzhou in China's southeastern Zhejiang province, the girl, aged 8 years, became separated from her grandfather while heading for a dance class.
Stranded with no phone, and with no help from strangers, the girl noticed an ATM nearby and headed over, reported South China Morning Post.
At the ATM, she pressed the red button beside the machine, which connected her to a the respective bank's monitoring centre.
After getting the call from the ATM, Zhou Dongying, an employee of the Quzhou Rural Commercial Bank, answered.
Hearing the girl's situation, Zhou asked her if she had her grandfather's phone number, to which the girl said no. She could neither recall the phone numbers of her family members.
Upon realising the girl's dire situation, Zhou then alerted the cops, and stayed on the call to comfort the eight-year-old.
As the two passed time on call, officers soon arrived and took the girl back home, reuniting her with her grandfather, who had been searching frantically for her.
Once the story surfaced online, netizens jumped in to praise the girl's quick thinking.
"She is so clever," wrote one person on Chinese social media.
"I feel like I’m not as smart as a child. I’ve learned a new emergency skill today," wrote another.
It should be noted that ATMs with emergency buttons aren't uncommon in China.
Chinese outlets reported that many ATM stations in the Hangzhou and Zhejiang provinces have two types of emergency buttons—one for an emergency call and another for emergency alarm. While the former directly calls the respective bank, the latter alerts the police directly in case of emergencies.
In fact, in February 2021, a five-year-old boy from the Hubei province had used similar means to get in touch with his family after getting lost.