2011 Gansu school bus crash

2011 Gansu school bus crash
Details
Date 16 November 2011
Location Zhengning County, Gansu, China
Statistics
Deaths 21 including 19 children

On November 16, 2011, a school bus run by a private kindergarten collided head-on with a coal truck in Zhengning County, Gansu, China. 19 children were killed, as were 2 adults.[1] The bus was originally a nine-seat van, but it had been modified to carry more passengers, and was severely overcrowded; 62 children were on board at the time of the crash, along with the 2 adults.[1] The government immediately closed the school and opened a public one in its place, with a 45-seat bus donated by an oil company.[1] The school's owner, Li Jungang, was arrested on "suspicion of causing traffic casualties"; the parents of each child killed were to be awarded 436,000 yuan in compensation.[1]

The accident caused a great deal of outcry on the Chinese internet, with many posters criticizing the small amount of money spent on education.[2] Further criticism was leveled at the government when it was announced shortly after the crash that China would donate 23 school buses to Macedonia; many microbloggers questioned the propriety of donating decent vehicles to a foreign country while subjecting Chinese children to substandard conditions.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "China arrests head of school that ran packed bus". USA TODAY. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Gansu School Bus Crash Sparks Anger". Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Chinese Netizens Question Donation of School Buses to Macedonia". VOA. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.