Chinese police have detained the driver of an overloaded bus
which plunged off a bridge on Monday and killed 26 passengers in
southwestern Chongqing Municipality, local police sources
confirmed.
The driver, Gao Wanyong, bears some of the responsibility for
the accident, a local police spokesman said.
Overloading and speeding were the main causes of the accident,
while unsafe guardrails only 10 centimeters high and a slippery
road surface after overnight rain also contributed to the tragedy,
he said.
The accident happened around 8:10 AM on Monday when a bus
carrying 32 passengers, seven more than its limit, ploughed through
the guardrail of a bridge that spans a narrow gully.
Twenty-six passengers were killed. Four of the six injured
passengers are now out of danger in local hospitals, but the
remaining two, a 26-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, are still
in a critical condition.
According to the Chongqing municipal government, 253 people died
in 202 road accidents in the first quarter of this year in the
municipality.
Overloading was blamed for more than 60 percent of the total
fatalities.
Statistics from the Ministries of Health and Public Security
show traffic accidents have killed about 100,000 people and injured
400,000 each year on average for the last seven years in the
country.
The State Administration of Work Safety issued a circular
Thursday, requiring more police to patrol and inspect the roads
before the May Day holiday from May 1 to 7, when large numbers of
people will start heading home by road or traveling.
It also requires local work safety watchdogs and transportation
departments to implement overhauls on buses and organize training
courses for bus drivers before the holiday.
(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2007)