Beijing: A school bus rammed into a crowd in China's eastern Shandong Province on Tuesday, killing 11 people and injuring 13 others, according to police. A rental bus hired to transport students "lost control" and crashed into students and parents at the gate of a middle school in Tai'an city just before 7:30 am, the Dongping county police department said in a posting on social media.
The accident claimed the lives of six parents and five students, while one of the injured was in serious condition while the others were listed as stable, the department said. The driver of the vehicle was taken into police custody and the incident was under investigation.
Traffic accidents, which often result in casualties, are not uncommon in China because of weak enforcement of traffic rules and a lack of safety awareness. Adding to the problems are overloaded school buses and poorly designed buildings that have become more of a hazard in China. Attacks on kindergarten schools by “disgruntled elements” are also common in China.
In July, a motor vehicle ploughed into pedestrians in Hunan province, killing eight people. Prior to that, a bus carrying 45 passengers including 39 students collided with a truck in Jiangsu province in May, partly due to negligent driving, resulting in the death of one student and causing injuries to at least seven people.
In Shandong Province, a dozen people, including 11 kindergarten pupils, were killed in 2017 when a school bus crashed and burst into flames in a tunnel in the eastern Chinese city of Weihai. The driver, six Chinese children and five South Korean children were killed. It is still not clear whether the crash was deliberate or the result of unsafe driving. The deceased included five South Korean children, six Chinese students and the bus driver, with the Chinese teacher on board was badly burned.
China has been urging proper measures at primary and secondary schools across the country to ensure the safety of students and school including preventing safety hazards on campus, safe use of school buses and traffic patrols. It has cracked down heavily on transportation dangers, adding training and vehicle inspections.
(with inputs from agencies)
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