|
Listen to article
|
A school bus accident in eastern China on Tuesday had fatal consequences, as the vehicle struck a crowd of parents and students outside a middle school, resulting in the deaths of 11 individuals, state media reported.
CCTV reported that the driver of the school bus failed to maintain control of the vehicle as it neared the school in Tai’an city, Shandong province, at 7:27 am (2327 GMT Monday), resulting in the devastating crash.
The school bus struck a group of parents and children who were gathered on the side of the road, according to reports from state broadcaster CCTV.
“As of now, (the incident) has caused the deaths of 11 people, of whom six were parents and five were students,” the broadcaster reported in an update just after 11:30 am.
It said one other person was in a “critical” condition, while the vital signs of another 12 people were “stable”.
Photos and videos circulating on social media showed people in blood-soaked clothes lying in the road near a hulking grey bus.
Several adults knelt over children sprawled unmoving on the ground, while other people could be heard screaming in the background.
Read also: Nigeria, China Strengthen Ties As Tinubu Meets Xi Jinping
“They’re all dead, it’s so heartbreaking,” a woman’s voice could be heard saying off-camera in one clip of the aftermath of the crash.
“I’d have been killed too if I’d stood there, but luckily I ran away fast,” she said.
The driver was being held by local police and the cause of the incident was “under investigation”, CCTV said.
Many public schools in China reopened for the new academic year this week.
Earlier this year, in July, a tragic incident occurred in Changsha, a city in central China, where a vehicle collided with pedestrians, resulting in eight fatalities and five injuries, according to police reports.
The country’s roads are plagued by a high frequency of deadly traffic accidents, often caused by lax enforcement of safety standards and chaotic driving habits.
