One hundred and 10 buses damaged in the July 5 riot in Urumqi were back on the roads Wednesday, fully restoring the city's public transport system.
The buses, belonging to the Xingsheng Bus Corp. based in the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, were attacked or burnt in brutal violence that left 197 people dead and more than 1,600 others injured more than a month ago.
The company lost 18 buses completely gutted by fire during the riot, said Xingsheng deputy manager Zheng Yulin. His company operates more than 300 buses in the city.
Zheng said his company suffered the most serious losses as rioters set fire to or attacked nearly 150 buses, leaving four employees dead.
Five employees of other city bus companies died in the riot. Other 70 were injured. Nearly 300 buses were damaged or burnt in the rioting.
But now all of the city's 3,000 buses are on the road.
The city's public transit system has received 21.7 million yuan (3.17 million) in government funding and public donations.
(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2009)
