Arson suspected in school bus fire that killed 13 in eastern China

Authorities in eastern China's Shandong Province said on Friday they suspect a fatal bus was started deliberately by the driver, Xinhua reported.

11 children, aged between three and six, and two adults were killed in the blaze inside the Taojiakuang Tunnel in Weihai on May 9.

Of the 11 children, five were South Korean nationals and six were Chinese. They were all students at an international kindergarten in Weihai, according to local officials.

Electrical fault and traffic accident were ruled out as the causes of the fire, police said.

Police said the driver's overtime pay and night shift allowance had been suspended, causing him to buy gasoline and start the fire in anger.

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China expresses condolences to S. Korea after deadly school bus accident

E. China school bus accident kills 5 Korean nationals, 7 Chinese </s> BEIJING -- A long-distance passenger bus crashed into the wall of an expressway tunnel in China's northwest, killing at least 36 people and injuring 13 others, official media outlets reported today.

The front end of the red bus was left mangled after it plowed into the wall at the entrance to the tunnel on a four-lane highway, according to photos published by state media outlets.

The crash occurred in Shaanxi province shortly before midnight Thursday as the bus with a legal carrying capacity of 51 people was on its way to Luoyang, a city in central China, from Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Such long-distance buses are a common mode of transport, particularly for migrant workers and other low-income Chinese.

The Xinhua News Agency and other media outlets said the bus was the only vehicle damaged, although it wasn't clear whether any other vehicles were involved in the crash. Photos on news websites showed the vehicle being towed out of the tunnel with no sign of it having caught fire. Two children were among those killed, and all the injured had been taken to a hospital, the reports said.

Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun ordered a swift investigation into the accident, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

The World Health Organization estimates that traffic accidents kill around 260,000 people in mainland China each year -- a rate of 18.8 in every 100,000 people. </s> BEIJING—A car plowed into a crowd of children outside a primary school in northeastern China on Thursday, killing five people and injuring 18, a local government spokesman said.

The driver was taken into custody after the crash around noon in the coastal city of Huludao in Liaoning province, said the spokesman for Jianchang county in the city's suburbs, who declined to give his name as is standard with Chinese bureaucrats.

He described the crash as "a major traffic accident" and said the cause was under investigation.

State broadcaster CCTV reported all five dead and all but two of the injured were children.

Security camera footage showed a line of children crossing the street in front of their school when a car approaches, which then changes lanes and swerves into the crowd of children.

It wasn't clear if the crash was a deliberate attack or whether the driver was swerving to avoid obstacles in front of him.

Wang Mingkuan, a cook at a nearby noodle restaurant, said he was making meals when the crash occurred.

"I ran out and saw about a dozen children lying on the ground, some of them bleeding, all about 7 or 8 years old. Two or three showed no signs of life," Wang told The Associated Press by telephone.

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Wang said ambulances and police cars rushed to the scene and officers blocked off the area and prevented people from filming. He said that rumours about the driver included that he was drunk, fleeing police or had deliberately targeted the children.

Last month, a knife-wielding man drove a vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians in the eastern city of Ningbo, killing two people and wounding 16.

And in September, 11 people were killed and 44 hospitalized after a man drove an SUV deliberately into people at a plaza in the central province of Hunan, before jumping out and attacking victims with a dagger and shovel.

Other deadly attacks have occurred at or just outside schools, including several in 2010 in which nearly 20 children were killed, prompting many schools to beef up security.

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However, in June, a man used a kitchen knife to attack three boys and a mother near a school in Shanghai, killing two of the children. Last year, police said a man set off an explosion at the front gate of a kindergarten in eastern China, which struck as relatives gathered to pick up their children at the end of the day, killing eight people.

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The attackers' most common motivations are identified as mental illness or alienation from society and a desire to settle scores.

Read more about: </s> At least 36 killed in China bus crash

Police and firefighters work near the wreckage of a coach after it crashed into the wall of a tunnel along the Xi'an-Hanzhong expressway in Ankang, Shaanxi province August 11, 2017. — Reuters picBEIJING, Aug 11 — At least 36 people were killed and 13 injured when a packed bus slammed into a wall at the mouth of an expressway tunnel in northern China, authorities said today.

The coach crashed at the Qinling tunnel in Ankang, a city in Shaanxi province, yesterday night, according to the State Administration of Work Safety.

The bus appears to have struck the wall just outside the tunnel as an AFP photo showed authorities placing a long tarp over to the right of the entrance, with another cover concealing the coach, which was a few metres back on a bridge.

Earlier photos published by the official Xinhua news agency showed that the front of the red bus had caved in due to the force of the crash.

The photos showed a tow truck at the scene along with rescue workers surveying the damage on the bridge just outside the tunnel near forested hills. Twisted metal was strewn in front of the bus, several windows were broken and a front tyre was blown out.

“The coach was seriously mangled,” the State Administration of Work Safety said in a statement, adding the cause of the accident was under investigation.

The bus had departed from Chengdu in southwest Sichuan province en route to the central city of Luoyang.

The injured have been rushed to hospital. The bus had a 51-passenger capacity and was carrying 49 people, the statement said. Local media said two children were aboard.

Sichuan province is already reeling from another tragedy as 20 people were killed and hundreds more injured in an earthquake that struck the region Tuesday night.

Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced by police.

The country's frequently overcrowded long-distance buses are particularly prone to fatalities.

There were more than 180,000 traffic accidents and 58,000 deaths in 2015, authorities said in December.

Traffic law violations caused almost 90 per cent of the road accidents where people died or were injured in 2015, with the total number of such infractions reaching an astonishing 442 million.

Last month, 11 people died and nine were injured when a bus carrying 19 people collided with a lorry on a national highway in northern Hebei province.

Ten people were killed and 38 injured in March when a bus collided with a cement truck in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

At least 18 people were killed when a minibus plunged into a lake in the central city of Wuhan in December.

And in July last year, a coach crashed through a highway guardrail and plunged into a canal near the northern city of Tianjin, killing 26. — AFP </s> BEIJING: At least 36 people were killed and 13 injured when a packed bus slammed into a wall at the mouth of an expressway tunnel in northern China, authorities said Friday.

The coach crashed at the Qinling tunnel in Ankang, a city in Shaanxi province, on Thursday night, according to the State Administration of Work Safety.

The bus appears to have struck the wall just outside the tunnel as an Agence France-Presse photo showed authorities placing a long tarp over to the right of the entrance, with another cover concealing the coach, which was a few meters back on a bridge.

Earlier photos published by the official Xinhua news agency showed that the front of the red bus had caved in due to the force of the crash.

The photos showed a tow truck at the scene along with rescue workers surveying the damage on the bridge just outside the tunnel near forested hills. Twisted metal was strewn in front of the bus, several windows were broken and a front tyre was blown out.

“The coach was seriously mangled,” the State Administration of Work Safety said in a statement, adding the cause of the accident was under investigation.

The bus had departed from Chengdu in southwest Sichuan province en route to the central city of Luoyang.

The injured have been rushed to hospital. The bus had a 51-passenger capacity and was carrying 49 people, the statement said. Local media said two children were aboard.

Sichuan province is already reeling from another tragedy as 20 people were killed and hundreds more injured in an earthquake that struck the region Tuesday night.

Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced by police.

The country’s frequently overcrowded long-distance buses are particularly prone to fatalities.

There were more than 180,000 traffic accidents and 58,000 deaths in 2015, authorities said in December.

Traffic law violations caused almost 90 percent of the road accidents where people died or were injured in 2015, with the total number of such infractions reaching an astonishing 442 million. </s> BEIJING — A passenger bus crashed into the wall of an expressway tunnel in China’s northwest, killing at least 36 people and injuring 13 others, official media reported Friday. The injured were sent to the hospital and rescue efforts were ongoing.

The accident occurred in Shaanxi province late Thursday as the bus was on its way to Luoyang, a city in central China, from Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, the Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the provincial police bureau.

More details were not immediately available, and it wasn’t clear if the bus was the only vehicle involved

Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun ordered a swift investigation into the accident, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

Highway accidents are common in China because of high speeds, aggressive driving and a failure to leave adequate braking distance. The World Health Organization estimates that traffic accidents kill around 260,000 people in mainland China each year — a rate of 18.8 in every 100,000 people. </s> Story highlights Investigators: Driver planned to kill himself due to "family pressure"

The driver set fire to the vehicle after dousing it in gasoline

(CNN) The driver of a bus that crashed in Taiwan in July, killing 26 people, was suicidal and intentionally set the vehicle ablaze before ramming it into a guardrail, state media reported.

The man was at fault for the deadly accident near Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei, law enforcement investigators told Taiwan's Central News Agency.

He planned to kill himself by self-immolation due to "family pressure and because he had been sentenced to prison in a sexual assault case," CNA reported Saturday.

The driver set fire to the vehicle after dousing it in gasoline, killing himself and 25 other people on board.

Of those killed, 24 were tourists from China, including three children. A Taiwanese tour guide also perished in the blaze. </s> BEIJING: An out-of-control truck ploughed into a 31-car lineup in northwest China killing 15 people and injuring 44, authorities in the city of Lanzhou said yesterday. The accident occurred Saturday night as the driver of the heavy duty articulated truck lost control on a downhill stretch of expressway and collided with cars lining up at a toll booth, Lanzhou’s propaganda department said.

Ten of the 44 hurt sustained serious injuries, authorities said. The big rig driver Li Feng was put under investigation and police watch, according to the official news agency Xinhua. The semi-trailer was registered to Li’s home northeastern Liaoning province, more than 2,000 kilometers from the scene of the accident. It was Li’s first time driving the stretch of road, the China Daily said.

State broadcaster CCTV aired video from the scene showing heavy snow and many crippled and twisted vehicles. Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced. Last week a scuffle between a bus driver and a passenger caused a bus to plunge from a bridge into a river in southwest China, killing all 15 people on board. According to authorities 58,000 people were killed in accidents across the country in 2015 alone. Violations of traffic laws were blamed for nearly 90 percent of accidents that caused deaths or injuries that year._ AFP </s> CHONGQING: A deadly bus accident in China's Chongqing city last Sunday was caused by a fist fight between the driver and a passenger, said local authorities on Friday (Nov 2).

The bus plunged into a section of the Yangtze River in Wanzhou district, killing all 15 people on board, including the driver.

A video retrieved from the black box of the bus shows a passenger scuffling with the driver just moments before the crash.

Dashcam footage from an oncoming vehicle shows the bus veering off its lane, colliding with a car and smashing through a bridge guardrail before plunging into the river.

READ: Two dead after Chine bus plunges 60m into river: State media

According to Wanzhou police, the fight started after a female passenger missed her stop and asked the driver to pull over immediately. He refused, and she went on to hit his head with her mobile phone before they exchanged blows.

The driver then lost control of the bus.



More than 70 rescue boats were deployed to the scene, reported China Daily. The wreck was pulled out of the river on Wednesday night by a floating crane.

Thirteen bodies were reported to have been found. Two are still missing.
In China city of Weihai, authorities eventually concluded that what appeared to be an accident was a school bus driver driving students from China and South Korea to an international school set fire to the bus in a tunnel, killing two adults and 11 children. The bus driver who died was angry that his overtime allowance had been suspended.