BEIJING — A bus hit a group of students and their parents at a school in the eastern region. China Police said 11 people were killed and 13 injured in the blast early Tuesday.
Students and parents were at the gate of a middle school in Tai’an city in the eastern province of Shandong just before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday was the second day of school back for children across China after the summer holiday, the Dongping County Police Department said in a social media post.
The department said six parents and five students were killed. Of the injured, one is in critical condition while the others are said to be stable.
He said the driver is in police custody and the incident is under investigation.
Reuters/Social Media
It said the bus was specially designed to transport students. It did not say who was responsible for driving the bus. Many schools contract out such services to private companies or individuals.
School safety in China, including overcrowded school buses and poorly designed buildings, has long been a problem.
In 2017, a dozen people, including 11 kindergarten students, were killed when a school bus crashed and caught fire in a tunnel in the eastern Chinese city of Weihai, also in Shandong province. The accident killed the driver, six Chinese children and five South Korean children. It is still unclear whether the accident was intentional or the result of unsafe driving.
China has taken tough action on transportation hazards, adding training and vehicle inspections.
Many cases have also been reported in China in recent years. Attacks on school childrenOften using knives or homemade explosives. Suspects were usually found to have personal issues or revenge and grudges against society.