BEIJING: Authorities in northwest China said Monday
they had formally arrested the head of a kindergarten operating an
overloaded bus that crashed into a truck, killing 19 children and
two adults.
The nine-seater mini-bus was carrying 64 people when the accident
happened in Gansu province's Zhengning county on Wednesday. The bus
driver, who died, was reportedly driving on the wrong side of the
road above the speed limit.
"Li Jungang, the chairman of the kindergarten, was arrested on
charges of causing a traffic accident," Yuan Suiming, deputy chief
prosecutor in Zhengning, told AFP.
"He could be given a sentence of more than seven years in
prison."
Li violated traffic laws and regulations by re-fitting the bus and
having the seats removed to allow more passengers to be crammed in,
the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The kindergarten -- which has more than 700 children enrolled --
only had four mini-buses at its disposal, and seats in all four
vehicles had been removed, the report said.
Local authorities have said families of the victims will each
receive 436,000 yuan ($69,000) in compensation for their loss, it
added.
Earlier reports said police had also detained the driver of the
truck and two local officials, and that the heads of the local
education bureau and traffic department were under
investigation.
Children are often crammed into buses for their journeys to school
in China, especially in rural areas, despite strict regulations
limiting passenger numbers.
Parents of students at the kindergarten in Zhengning said school
buses had been overloaded for years despite several complaints,
according to previous reports.
China's education ministry responded to the accident last week by
ordering education authorities and schools and kindergartens across
the country to carry out safety checks on buses.
- AFP/ck
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the chinese govt should wake up.
how could 64 people crammed into a 9-seater bus?
terrible!!!