WeChat 'Glitch' Allows Family to Raise over 2 Million Yuan in 80 Minutes

Luo Er, the father of the 5-year-old girl with leukemia who received an estimated 2.7 million yuan ($392,000) in donations via online donations, responds to questions on Wednesday about the fundraising. Photo: Huo Jianbin/Visual China/Nanfang Metropolis Daily

(Beijing) – A "technical glitch" in WeChat, China's most widely used messaging app, allowed a family in the southern city of Shenzhen to raise over 2 million yuan ($290,000) in donations within 80 minutes.

The money poured in between just after midnight and 1:20 a.m. Wednesday, said Tencent Holdings Group, which operates the app.

But the family needed only just over 36,000 yuan for out-of-pocket treatment expenses to date for their 5-year old daughter, who has leukemia, said a representative at Shenzhen Children's Hospital, where the girl has been admitted three times since September. The balance of the medical bills was covered by the government-run medical insurance program.