Share Story
Send to KindleRelated News
Deadly bus blaze exposes lax safety
Source: Xinhua |
July 23, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SAFETY supervision on long-haul bus services in China has come under scrutiny in the wake of a fire that left 41 people dead and six others injured early on Friday morning.
A total of 47 people were on board when a long-distance bus caught fire at 4am on the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, near the city of Xinyang in central China's Henan Province. The accident was the deadliest of its kind in years.
The double-decker sleeper bus was on its way from the city of Weihai in east China's Shandong Province to Changsha, the capital of central China's Hunan Province.
Although the cause of the blaze is still being investigated, lax safety supervision may be to blame for the tragedy, as the bus was overloaded when the fire broke out, according to preliminary investigations.
A spokesman with an investigative team in Weihai said that the bus was not carrying any passengers when it departed from a local long-distance bus station at 10am on Thursday.
The bus station is responsible for safety checks, mainly to prevent passengers from carrying flammable or explosive materials.
However, GPS data showed that it made at least five stops in the Shandong cities of Weihai, Yantai and Jining. Safety checks in such stops were likely to be minimal or nonexistent.
The bus was designed to carry 35 passengers, but was carrying 47 at the time of the accident. Work safety officials in Henan believe that some of the passengers may have had flammable or explosive materials in their luggage.
Officials also said that it did not seem that the bus had been stopped for safety checks during its 1,000-km journey.
One of the injured is in a critical condition at the Zhumadian No. 159 Hospital, in Henan's city of Zhumadian. The other five injured, including the bus driver, are being treated at a hospital in Xinyang and were described as stable yesterday.
Local police said that several of the bodies recovered from the bus will have to be identified through DNA testing.
Officers are currently questioning the driver.
A team from the State Administration of Work Safety has arrived in Xinyang to investigate the accident.
A total of 47 people were on board when a long-distance bus caught fire at 4am on the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, near the city of Xinyang in central China's Henan Province. The accident was the deadliest of its kind in years.
The double-decker sleeper bus was on its way from the city of Weihai in east China's Shandong Province to Changsha, the capital of central China's Hunan Province.
Although the cause of the blaze is still being investigated, lax safety supervision may be to blame for the tragedy, as the bus was overloaded when the fire broke out, according to preliminary investigations.
A spokesman with an investigative team in Weihai said that the bus was not carrying any passengers when it departed from a local long-distance bus station at 10am on Thursday.
The bus station is responsible for safety checks, mainly to prevent passengers from carrying flammable or explosive materials.
However, GPS data showed that it made at least five stops in the Shandong cities of Weihai, Yantai and Jining. Safety checks in such stops were likely to be minimal or nonexistent.
The bus was designed to carry 35 passengers, but was carrying 47 at the time of the accident. Work safety officials in Henan believe that some of the passengers may have had flammable or explosive materials in their luggage.
Officials also said that it did not seem that the bus had been stopped for safety checks during its 1,000-km journey.
One of the injured is in a critical condition at the Zhumadian No. 159 Hospital, in Henan's city of Zhumadian. The other five injured, including the bus driver, are being treated at a hospital in Xinyang and were described as stable yesterday.
Local police said that several of the bodies recovered from the bus will have to be identified through DNA testing.
Officers are currently questioning the driver.
A team from the State Administration of Work Safety has arrived in Xinyang to investigate the accident.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
