简体中文
Both vehicles involved in a tragedy that killed 11 kindergarten children last month were overloaded to almost twice their capacity, an official investigation has declared.
At around 8 a.m. on Nov. 11 on a section of road still under construction in east China's Shandong Province, a truck collided with a minibus carrying 14 children. The minibus's driver and 11 children were killed.
The truck in question was laden with over 24 tonnes of grit, despite its design capacity being under 13 tonnes. Fifteen were aboard a school minibus only supposed to carry eight. The minibus in question had neither a school bus license nor road transportation license. It was hired by an "oral contract" between the driver and the head of the kindergarten.
"The kindergarten enrolled nearly a hundred children despite poor basic safety conditions and no regular school buses. It illegally hired an unlicensed driver to pick up children in a vehicle that did not meet safety standards. The minibus carried too many children and was on an unfinished road," said an Education Ministry statement.
The ministry investigation found five other kindergartens in the same city, Penglai, also using unlicensed school buses.
The ministry instructed local authorities to check all student buses on a school by school basis and keep records for each vehicle, but only roadside checks can eradicate the use of unqualified vehicles as substitutes.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Public Security began a nationwide road safety campaign to reduce such accidents, many of which involve children in poor quality buses.
Three children died in a deja vu collision on Dec. 2, also in Shandong and also involving a truck.
