Stories

Chinese School Bus Rolls Over in Jiangsu, 15 Children Dead

by on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 89 comments comments

A young child at Lecong Hospital in Foshan, China under observation following her school bus colliding with a truck.

From Sina Weibo:

@南方都市报: 【Major School Bus Accident Occurs in Jiangsu!】 According to @都市晨报 confirmation, around 6pm, a major accident occurred in Shouxian of Jiangsu. To avoid an electric scooter, a school bus carrying 71 people from Shouxian Central Primary School skidded and flipped into the river. Locally, about 10 police cars and 20 ambulances as well as firetrucks and cranes have been deployed to aid in the rescue. According to netizens, the number of dead may be as high as around 40 people while Dushi Chenbao says the current death toll is unknown. Photo is from netizen @jiazi300. [蜡烛]

Parents outside a hospital in Jiangsu after a school bus rolled over in a traffic accident.

Comments from Sina Weibo:

何晓薇小x:

Sigh, not even able to safely transport children to their parents, so lamentable, stupid cunt school buses.

热情apple小屋:

Why do we have to lose so many lives before we will begin reflecting? [泪][怒骂][疑问][弱]

黄三三0207:

When it comes to giving school buses to other countries, the government has the money. When it comes to our own children, the government complains it is poor. This kind of country truly makes it impossible for me to be proud of!!!

败家老大:

Everytime I see this kind of news it makes me sigh: How hard it must’ve been for me to live so long. [蜡烛] [蜡烛]

严崇芳:

Must we make 2011 into the “year of vehicle accidents”? So many lives!

伲古龙:

Fuck? The government!!!

过节倒计时:

When something bad happens in China, it always happens in clusters, like school buses having accidents one after another, which reminds us of kindergarten children being hacked/stabbed one after another…

花花世界-golden_flower:

Every time this kind of thing happens, the first thing China [the government] thinks of is hiding the truth, why is this? Afraid to openly handle something, no wonder there are more and more fenqing now, turns out they were created by this social environment!! [怒]

没钱的-富翁:

Able to buy all the world’s airplanes, yet can’t afford a single school bus; Able to send satellites into space, yet unable to build a single small bridge; Able to give other countries hundreds of millions to spend, yet unwilling to build a few more primary schools; Able to spend several tens of aircraft carriers worth of money on dining, yet force children to donate their lunch money.

happybigapple:

It wasn’t caused by the school bus! It’s all caused by people!!!!! Can the government provide some money to uniformly manufacture those American-style school buses that are strong like tanks??? If something still happens then it’ll be strange!!!

From NetEase:

Victims of Jiangsu province Feng county school bus rollover accident reaches 15

Summary: December 12th afternoon, a school bus for a primary school in Shouxian town of Feng county in Jiangsu province had a rollover accident. Around 2am in the early morning of the 13th, after 3 schoolchildren died despite efforts to save them, the number of student victims rose to 15, with 8 injured survivors.

From NetEase:

Jiangsu province Feng country school bus rolls over, 15 students dead

December 12th around 6pm, in Jiangsu province Xuzhou city Feng country Shouxian town Zhanghoutun village, a major school bus overturning vehicle accident occurred and already 15 students have died. The school bus had overturned into a 60 centimeter deep ditch, causing some of the students crushed on the bottom to drown. According to information, this school bus can carry 52 people and was carrying 29 people during the accident. The school bus driver first rescued people before fleeing after the accident, and is currently detained by the police.

Clothes removed at the hospital from injured school children involved in a school bus that had overturned into a ditch with many drowning.

As it is understood, this school bus belongs to an elementary school in Zhanghoutun village and the school bus overturned as a result of avoiding a pedestrian. Photo is of the children’s clothes in the Shouxian town Community Health Service Center. (Photo from the internet)

Clothes removed from school children injured in a school bus that had rolled over.

Photo is of the clothes taken off the students receiving emergency care in the hospital.

The scene where a Jiangsu school bus overturned while trying to avoid a pedestrian on the street, killing 15 school children in the process.

Photo is of the scene where the school bus flipped over.

Scene of the school bus rollover accident the day after.

Photo is the scene of the incident photographed on December 13th.

Various notebooks and belongings of the children killed and injured in a Jiangsu school bus rollover accident.

Photo is of the belongings of the schoolchildren involved.

Local government officials and police bowing at a press conference for the Jiangsu Xuzhou Feng County school bus rolling over accident that has so far resulted in 15 deaths.

December 13th morning, a press conference for the Xuzhou city Feng county school bus rollover accident was held. It is reported that the number of dead has reached 15. According to reports, the school bus rolled over as it avoided a pedestrian. At present, the driver has been detained, and the remaining 8 injured are currently receiving medical treatment. The press conference lasted 20 minutes, and this reporter’s questions were interrupted by the local propaganda director.

A police officer receives interviews by the media following a short press conference concerning the December 12th Jiangsu Feng County school bus accident.

Photo is of the official representative interviewed by this reporter after the press conference.

An ambulance brings school children to a hospital following a school bus overturning into a ditch in Jiangsu province of China.

The children taken to the hospital for emergency care.

Chinese parents and family waiting outside a hospital for information on their children who had been involved in a serious school bus accident in Jiangsu, China.

Photo is of family outside the hospital doors waiting for information about their children. (Photo is from the internet)

Chinese parents and family waiting outside a hospital for information on their children who had been involved in a serious school bus accident in Jiangsu, China.

Chinese parents and family waiting outside a hospital for information on their children who had been involved in a serious school bus accident in Jiangsu, China.

Chinese parents and family waiting outside a hospital for information on their children who had been involved in a serious school bus accident in Jiangsu, China.

Comments from NetEase:

lzyan1025 [网易陕西省网友]:

Where are the school buses? Where are the school buses? The school buses are in the schools of Macedonia~

网易江苏省南京市网友:

Another school bus?! Why is it always school buses?????????

桃面老妖 [网易江苏省网友]:

I just turned on the computer and this is the first news I see. My tears uncontrollable came down with the thought of how many more families have again lost their beloved children.

网易北京市网友:

While reading the newspaper in the morning, I first saw that Shanghai Shenghua F.C. used 10 million Euros to bring in a foreign player, suddenly I felt China was so rich. Then I see this school bus news, and I’m speechless…

280455694 [网易天津市网友]:

Sigh, the LD even stressed this and you still don’t pay attention/be careful!

网易江苏省网友 [windy0828]:

Actually it was 70-some people and 40-some people died so why do the damn government officials say only 15 people? Probably to avoid responsibility, probably to avoid losing their official posts. I truly wish government officials’ children can be hit and killed [by vehicles], so they can see what is having a knife twisted in your heart is like, so they can experience for a moment what it is like for the white-haired [old] to outlive the black-haired [young].

网易江苏省苏州市网友:

This isn’t a problem with the school bus. The key is for everyone to abide by traffic regulations, and school bus drivers especially need to abide by traffic rules. Only this way can traffic accidents be reduced.

九度萧转 [网易湖北省荆门市网友]:

Our school buses cost several tens of thousands, seat several tens of people.
领导的公车几十万。算司机2个人。”>The government leadership’s official cars cost several hundreds of thousands. Including the driver, seats two people.

太黄太暴力 [网易上海市网友]:

I can say with very much certainty: This definitely won’t be the last time.

lhltbz [网易四川省成都市网友]:

A school bus that cost several tens of thousand, filled with over 60 students. A government official’s car that costs several hundreds of thousands, filled with just one leading cadre [government official]. They don’t attach importance to medical care, because they have special wards for government cadres; They don’t attach importance to education, because their children study abroad; They don’t attach importance to food safety, because they have specially provided food products; They don’t attach importance to traffic congestion, because they have police to open the road for them; They don’t attach importance to the country’s future, because their wives and children have already emigrated to the United States! Sad, so sad.

China is a big country…

A Guangdong Foshan school bus with a hole ripped in its middle caused by a collision with a freight truck.

From NetEase:

Guangdong Foshan primary school school bus collides with truck, 37 students hurt

December 12th around 6:40, near the Dazha Memorial in Lecong town of Foshan city’s Shunde district in Guangdong province, a school bus carrying 59 schoolchildren collided with a cargo truck. The collision cauesed a large hole in the school bus. 37 school children were injured and entered the hospital for treatment, with one amongst them entering the ICU (intensive care unit). Parents say the school bus was speeding

A Guangdong Foshan school bus with a hole ripped in its middle caused by a collision with a cargo truck.

Witnesses at the scene said the school bus was driving normally when the accident happened, “seemed to want to make a left turn”, but then a large cargo truck came straight out and hit the left side of the school bus in the middle. The heavily hit school bus turned and stopped, with a nearly 1 meter diameter large hole on its rear left side. Photo is of the large hole on the hit school bus, with the windows on the side of the impact having shattered.

A Guangdong Foshan school bus with a hole ripped in its middle caused by a collision with a freight truck.

The injured students were sent to Lecong Hospital not far from the scene, where the hospital revealed that 37 students were send to them that day. Around 9:00 in the morning, this reporter saw in the transfusion room many students whose faces and arms were wrapped in gauze and many students with large bumps on their heads. Photo is of the large hole on the hit school bus.

A young child at Lecong Hospital in Foshan, China under observation following her school bus colliding with a truck.

After emergency treatment by the hospital, 7 students were admitted for hospital continued treatment and observation, 1 was admitted to the ICU, 4 were admitted to the surgical department, and two were admitted to the facial department. Photo is of a young student at the hospital for observation.

A young child at Lecong Hospital in Foshan, China under observation following her school bus colliding with a truck.

Photo is of a little schoolchild at the hospital for observation.

The chaotic interior of a Chinese school bus in southern China that had been involved in a collision with a freight truck.

At the time of the accident, the teacher in the school bus was the last to stand. The teacher’s foot had been injured, and the driver’s shoulder had been injured. The injured students on the bus cried and screamed, and when the situation settled down, the teacher began to evacuate the school children off the bus. Photo is of the the 9 rows of wooden benches inside the school bus, the inside a scene of disorder.

The chaotic interior of a Chinese school bus in southern China that had been involved in a collision with a cargo truck.

Photo is of the the 9 rows of wooden benches inside the school bus, the inside a scene of disorder.

The cargo truck that had hit the school bus and injured 37 people.

Photo is of the cargo truck that caused the accident.

The cargo truck and school bus that had collided with each other at the local police tow lot.

Photo is of the hit school bus and the cargo truck that caused the accident in the police impound lot.

Shattered glass on the ground from the school bus that had been hit by a cargo truck.

Photo is of glass from the school bus scattered on the ground.

  • BaoBei

    Saw this on Weibo, absolutly terrifying. China needs to reinforce their buses and screen drivers a lot better. =/

    • Xiongmao

      Everything about traffic here is a joke. The driver could have been irresponsible, the bus old and unsafe, the road could have been out, the shoulder could have been gone but it’s equally possible that he actually DID try to avoid a pedestrian or a scooter because (as any of us foreigners here with cars can attest) some of them move about as if they had a death wish.

      Just as late as yesterday I was on the freeway -2 lanes, big hard shoulder to the opposite direction- where you can do 110 at night around 10 o’clock, and a fucking motorbike with 3 people on it come down towards me with no lights and muddy reflectors in the fast lane. Luckily I was in the slow lane at the time but had I not been I would have killed the moron and his family, and probably myself as well. I talked to a friend in the police about it, said they could do nothing and that I’d probably be something like 50 percent responsible legally had we collided (said with a big laugh, they know how lame the traffic laws are). Just plain lovely.

  • kjell pell potetskrell

    Hmm, they blame the government and the schoolbus, but how about the drivers of vehicles in this country?

    • Anon

      There is actually one sensible poster who points out that “The key is for everyone to abide by traffic regulations, and school bus drivers especially need to abide by traffic rules. Only this way can traffic accidents be reduced.” If only more Chinese drivers had such common sense.

      • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

        It’s not just common sense, but personal responsibility – something no one is willing to accept.

        Basically it’ll go “Why should I take personal responsibility? That guy Wong Dong Qingdao-sixpack isn’t taking personal responsibility; why should I?”

        As China is a shame-based culture, people will only feel bad if they’re caught; as such traffic will continue to be one million near-misses a day because no one wants to take personal responsibility; as such schoolbuses will now be required to be “built like tanks”.

        This will result in the “tank-ification” of cars that’s already trending with SUV’s. As if people aren’t already used to seeing tanks drive down boulevards in Beijing..

        • Anon

          It’s not just common idiocy, but personal responsibility – something no one like @terrior is willing to accept.

          Basically @terrior’ll go “Why should I take personal responsibility? That guy Mat Ja-toe-sixpack isn’t taking personal responsibility; why should I?”

          As @terrior’s race is a shameless-based culture, people will only feel bad if they’re caught; as such traffic will continue to be one million near-hits a day because no one wants to take personal responsibility; as such schoolbuses will now be required to be “built like tanks” in @terrior’s race’s country.

          This will result in the “tank-ification” of cars in @terrior’s race’s country that’s already trending with SUV’s. As if people aren’t already used to seeing tanks drive down boulevards in in @terrior’s race’s country.

          The Chinese are going green and @terrior’s race’s country can enjoy lots of accidents if he intends the same for the Chinese.

          [Note from Fauna: What are you doing?]

          • GodsHammer

            Yeah Anon…WTF are you doing?

          • curl of the burl

            Closest thing I can imagine is mocking.

            I’m hearing “I told you so but what am I” :p

          • Tengu

            If you ever find out what he’s doing , let us ALL know!

          • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

            I’ll tell everyone something – it’s glorious to be me.

            I can’t wait to see what I’ll be doing and saying next.

        • bomber

          Good points. I drive a motorcycle in Beijing. I drive pretty slowly. I have at least one white-knuckle moment per day.

          I am noticing people are changing though. Some (very few) drivers are beginning to drive more sensibly and responsibly – even courteously!. I feel bad for them, though, because they are fighting an uphill battle.

          I blame the wai di ren. ;)

        • Xiongmao

          I know a Wong Dong Qingdao Sixpack too. Small world.

    • Kristine

      Was just about to say the same.

      They claim the first accident happened cause the driver tried to “avoid an electric scooter”. Riiiight. Anybody who’s ever been to China knows that cars have the right of way here (or at least act like that). And also why didn’t the driver think “Hey, I’ve got 70 children in my care, better drive carefully and pay attention to the surrounding.” Oh that’s right, he job is to drive the bus, not think. Silly me…

      Also, how did they drown?? From the look of the pictures there’s hardly any water in that ditch. Not wearing seat belts i take it.

      In the second accident the bus has got seat belts, but they’ve all been wrapped around their respective seats. From the look of it they’ve probably never been used. Enough said.

  • Bryan from the USA#1

    School bus drivers should be trained to be ok hitting animals, motorcycles or other small vehicles. 70+ children vs. 2-3 people on a scooter.

    “Sacrifice the one, for the good of the many”
    Spock, from Star Trek.

  • Scytheria

    Without exception, every driver in China needs to have his/her license revoked, then reissued only after the most stringent testing of basic intelligence, common-sense, courtesy and, of course, road laws (if any exist). Get some foreign agency to run the tests, so certificates actually have to be genuinely earned (and not bought with a few cartons of cigarettes).

    I’ve been all over the globe, seen a lot of crazy stuff, but the sheer stupidity of Chinese drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians leaves me reeling in amazement every time. I have never met anyone who has visited China and not felt the same way.

    I would honestly feel safer sat in a small room with twenty baboons and a pile of hand grenades than get in another taxi in Hunan.

    • Anon

      And then taxi drivers will sometimes be offended when you put on your seatbelt, telling you they won’t crash. Sorry buddy, but I will make you lose every little bit of face you have if it reduces the risk of mine going through your windshield.

      • Foreign Devil

        You were able to find a seatbelt? Usually the taxies in CHina cover the back seat in a blanket or fabric . including covering up the seat belts …so you could not access them if you wanted to.

        • rollin wit 9′s

          @ anon and Foreign D: To this day i still dont know why there are no seat belts in the back of the taxis. It makes no fcking sense. I just stopped asking because when i used to i got the same retarded answer everytime. “不用”

          • rollin wit 9′s

            Remember those Bud Light commercials from long time ago

            Bud Light presents real men of Genius (or real american heros at one point)

            Tsingdao should do the same. Except it should go like this:

            Tsingdao presents real fckin idiots!
            Today we salute you Mr. cant drive because you paid for your license.

          • 平凡人

            I try not to sit in the front, I rather sit behind the driver; even thought there is not seat belt. I had a friend in Kunshan (Jiangsu), took the front seat, the driver wanted to avoid a truck, swerved left to save his own ass, I lost my friend. If you buckle up in the front seat of any cab here, you will have a stripe going right accross your shirt; they don’t f**king clean the seat belt.

        • Anon

          I guess I’m thinking of times when I ended up in the front seat.

        • bomber

          you have to be a real asshole about it. I used to (and still sometimes do) get into taxis and reach down under the backseat to pull out the seatbelt buckle. They’re usually all “干什么你!?” and I’m all “我在找安全带！你们的出组车怎么都没有安全带!?” They then give me a disapproving look in the rearview. Some worry I’ll damage their car, others assure me that they are safe drivers. I just ignore and get buckled in.

          What shocks me the most is that, having spent so much time on the road, they still can’t comprehend how dangerous it is.

  • guizi

    School bus accidents again. I think this is a kind of Chinese hysteria. In China more than 300 people are killed daily in traffic accidents. In some reports the number is about 600 daily. So naturally, there are school bus accidents every week. And considering this big daily death toll, I think school buses in China are not so accident-ridden. Although of course I hope by this mass reports Chinese people drive more safely.

    What I hope more is overall improvement in road conditions and drivers manner. These are the main factors to reduce the traffic death toll. And the road condition improvement is government work, and drivers manner is on people’s side.

  • dim mak

    Not gonna do Korean coast guard stabbing story?
    The rage on the forums is delicious :3

    C’mon Fauna, it’s not that political

    • Foreign Devil

      Shouldn’t the korean coast guards be carrying firearms with them. . and have them drawn when they board a Chinese ship? This isn’t the first time this has happened. ALso they should have an advantage since the Chinese are forbidden from carrying arms.

      • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

        China already apologized, so it’s no big deal; ROK lost a whole ship of sailors eariler this year and they didn’t do anything about that back then.

        No need for concern: a scientific solution is being researched right now on the aircraft carrier as we speak.

        • GodsHammer

          There were 400 Chinese ships caught by the Korean Coast Guard this year. Where I come from…that is know an invasion. Does anyone actually think that these are simple ‘fishermen’? Haaaa…

          • GodsHammer

            If people want to scream about stuff in the news, maybe they should scream about the Wukan villagers getting treated like criminals for defending their right to be farmers, or the crooked cops blocking all supplies in and out of Wukan village and raiding the town at night.

        • kaisekmao

          no they haven’t. all they said was that they don’t their murderer’s human rights to be violated. it’s hard to understand what chinese think. ROK lost a whole ship and we didn’t do anything so does it mean that chinese can do whatever they please to and it’s wrong to retaliate? the issue is that chinese intruded ROK’s waters, yet they don’t want to admit their fault and make it sound like their human rights are violated in ROK. whenever you see any international disputes that rise between china and other nations, all i can say is that chinese are uncivilized and it will take decades to realize how barbaric and ignorant they truly are. just from that fact china will be fragmented into more than 20 nations. no one can stop it. i say it will happen in 20 years or sooner.

          • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

            Yes. Everyone has an egg-timer with China’s name on it.

        • Anon

          Ah ah ah, actually the statement I read said they “regretted” it, which was exactly the phrase that they got hung up on the US using when Wang Wei crashed into our spy plane.

          • Anon

            Er, not that, as biased against China as I admittedly am, I actually think the Chinese government has any reason to apologize for the actions of one of its nationals. Certainly China’s sovereignty claims probably encourage fishermen to fish in waters that aren’t theirs to fish to some extent, but a private citizen stabbing someone still doesn’t have anything to do with the government.

  • Rudy

    Everyone talks about the “Buses” maybe they don’t help protect the children but they don’t cause the accidents! It’s stupid Chinese people who don’t know how to drive and have no idea about the “Rules of the road”! the electric scooter crossing in front of this bus has as much to balme as anyone!! The Chinese drivers are the ones KILLING thee children!

  • Hawkeye4077

    I don’t think I have to say if people were taught to properly drive a lot of the traffic accidents that occur in China would not happen. This was totally preventable. Use common sense, be aware of your surrounding. Neglectful behavior is universally part of the human condition it seems. Even here in the U.S.A there are people that text and drive, put on make up, read a book or map. Know this, you reap what you sow. If a non corrupt law doesn’t hold you accountable, God will. Whether you believe in God or not doesn’t make any difference. You’ll die one day and you will answer for what you’ve done with your life.

  • louis

    I agree with your comment.the government does not enforce the driving laws..cameras only catch violators of the law.but do not prevent laws from being violated,only police can stop all this chaos on our streets and roads.but I never see the police stop any one

    • matt

      Spot on. Licensing requirements are actually pretty stringent in China. You have to pass a written test & go to driving school. And let’s face it, even if the person bribed their way to a license, it’s not that difficult to get a license in other countries with much safer streets.

      The big difference in China is the total lack of traffic police. There’s no one pulling over drivers for minor infractions (turn signals, brake lights out, etc.). The lack of basic enforcement has created an “anything goes” environment.

      Relying on cameras and fines, that get issued months after the violation, is nothing more than fundraising. It doesn’t change anyone’s habits because they probably can’t remember what they did wrong to deserve the fine.

      • Blars

        Problem is, who is going to have to go into the restaurants and pull the coppers out by their ears and tell them to do a bit of work, you?

  • 老外

    How terrible. I can sympathize with their parents… losing a child is the most painful thing a parent can ever experience in their life. I’ve lost children myself, and it’s never easy to deal with such an unimaginable tragedy.

    China really needs american-style schoolbusses, as a Chinese netizen suggested, and bus drivers need to be safe, not reckless.

    • Will I Am

      老外 – the US has school bus driver training and testing programs. Much of this is behind the wheel training. The driver must be tested and certified before he/she can drive and is re-certified periodically. The buses must meet national safety and mechanical standards and are inspected regularly. I do not know if China has these programs. As a start driver training and testing is required.

      I have also lost a child and share your thoughts.

  • Lily

    “Can the government …. manufacture those American-style school buses that are strong like tanks???”

    LOLOL wut?

    • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

      These tank-buses are made for driving upon streets that are paved with gold.

  • kevinnolongerinpudong

    One commenter points out “When something bad happens in China, it always happens in clusters.” I’m not sure this true. It’s more likely that bad shit like this is happening all the time. All the time!
    But once one story is revealed and captures people’s attention, a similar story immediately following it has a strong impact and keeps people’s attention. I’d be willing to bet that there have been plenty of school bus accidents prior to this fall- and just imagine how many were covered up prior to the popularization of the Internet.
    For those seeking safer school buses, take into consideration that the government needs to save money for pointless mega-events, cheesy expensive cars, and handjobs at karaoke!

    • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

      Handjobs cost money, you know. White French mustard doesn’t squirt itself out of the bottle for free, you know.

  • DRaY

    China needs American Style police that act like dick heads and write a million tickets a month. The one thing Chinese people hate is losing money. Pass out more fines or just take away their vehicles and they will start to drive like they have brains.

    • rollin wit 9′s

      i think some time ago i awarded someone best comment on CS. You are getting the #2 spot for this year.
      congrats

    • lonetrey

      there ya go. You’re on the right path at least.

  • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

    As a note for your rage/sorrow/reading edification: the ditch that the bus crashed into that the schoolchildren drowned in was less than one meter high.

    I don’t know how, but in the place where those kids died you could stand and not get your Casio watch wet.

    • SP

      Did you not read that some of the children were crushed/trapped (below seats when the bus flipped into the ditch)?

      • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

        Well, let’s do the right thing in this case: China should drain all of its ditches by the sides of roads, and then fill them with landmines and crocodiles so no one will ever drive into them.

      • Nyancat

        well if what the second report on the accident says is true then it would be hard to fathom that 15 people could crush each other, therefore the first report must have been closer to the truth about the number of people on board at the time. How do you get trapped below seats anyway? Are they detachable in Chinese school buses?

        • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

          This incessant fighting! It’s like we are inharmonious or something!

          Okay okay, perfect winning solution: the new schoolbuses resemble amphibious personel carriers. Yes. China needs schoolbuses that resemble both tanks and submarines.

        • SP

          15 is the number of children that died. I don’t see “15 on board” anywhere. How do people read?

          People would be flung around during an accident. I don’t know if they’re crushed/trapped under seats or just fainted children, but I believe they had to be trapped to drown in 60cm high water and I’ve no idea what the two of you are driving, esp the one with useless solutions.

          • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

            I’m driving a battleship. To let people know that they should be careful around me, it has a “Baby on Board” sign. Because: safety first.

          • Nyancat

            “According to information, this school bus can carry 52 people and was carrying 29 people during the accident.”, That half the number of people, my bad for posting 15, but still a person per seat and where does the scenario that people got crushed come into play? It overturned and I seriously doubt it somersaulted or something, which would be a more plausible scenario for getting crushed by other passengers. There is something seriously wrong with this report, how hard is it to count? It’s upto you if you want to swallow up whatever you hear.

          • SP

            Lol. Read again, they weren’t crushed to death. Trapped might be a better translation – “trapped (beneath bodies/seats/whatever in the bus) and drowned in 60cm high water”. Not your fault you can’t read the original Chinese. How hard is it to believe that can happen? It’s up to you to suspect every report without good reason or plausible alternatives.

          • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

            “lol”

            Are you “laughing out loud” at the death of 15 schoolchildren? Chinese schoolchildren? What are you, Japanese or something?

          • SP

            @terroir. I was obviously referring to NyanCat, who was proposing ideas as entertaining as yours.

            I don’t see the need to respond further to someone who can’t read, thinks they’re being funny by suggesting implausible ideas and resorts to racist comments.

            @Nib: good point, seat belt seems very likely. They could be trapped by any number of things.

          • Nyancat

            You seem to have trouble using ur brain so again, lets take this one step at a time, these kids were in primary school meaning that unless they were dwarves they would have an average height of over 90 cms meaning they could stand up and not be drowned. Next considering the capacity of the bus was 52 and only 29 people were in it, unless the top of the bus was shaped like a funnel there is no reason for anyone to get ‘trapped’ in such a way they could drown. Like i mentioned before are seats detachable for people to get trapped under? I would think not, and the bus flipped over and was not hit on the side or anything which would actually be more believable.
            Now say that the bus was at half the capacity as stated in the second article, or lets say the revised article, there would not be enough weight for it to topple over, but if there were in fact 71 people and therefore over capacity then I would totally believe that there was ample reason for it to topple over, as well as have people trapped in 60 cm water.
            Don’t worry some people weren’t meant to think critically you must be one of them, and don’t bother replying as i find it a waste of time to explain something that is relatively simple to extrapolate from the info given to someone as stubborn as you. good day

          • SP

            Throw more insults, why don’t you :) You must assume the bus is upright when it’s in the ditch, to be talking about children’s height, and that they can just up and walk about or something. I’m not going to help you with logic any more, darling. You could always go around thinking you’re the only enlightened one and be disappointed that no one else can see that it’s a conspiracy to make people think they drowned when in fact they died from alien attacks or something.

          • Nyancat

            Sigh…I’ve seen enough to know that you can’t always rely on these so called ‘news’ reports to mean a damn thing. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4bea05fc-1647-11e1-a691-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1ggqCyNz1 you might wanna read that article and decide whether or not what you read is actually credible news. I admit I shouldn’t have insulted you and for that I apologize, but in my case I’ll never believe news reports coming from the Chinese media to be the absolute truth.
            I think we’re both missing the point though, what needs to happen is stricter screening measures for drivers better buses. I don’t think I’d be able to stomach another news article with more kids dying due to such lax safety regulations and shitty drivers.

          • SP

            Can’t see your article, not gonna register an account to see it. Try reading this: http://www.ytwhw.com/cn/2011/1214/jiangsuxiaocheshigu-15.html
            Of course, maybe they made up the interview with the survivors too.

            Bottom line, there’s no absolute truth in reports from any Chinese or non-Chinese media, period. But going around doubting every article without good reason or evidence to the contrary? No thanks. Want to disprove an article? Use evidence and not baseless speculations that “they can’t have drowned”.

            I didn’t miss no point. I just don’t believe posting suggestions online will help their situation.

          • Nyancat

            Umm, interesting link, but as you said there isn’t much evidence either way to prove that what you or I said is the absolute truth. The lack of pictorial evidence as well as the conflicting report don’t really foster belief. So we both lose, there is no point in either of us trying to convince the other, we both have our own views and it seems an exercise in futility. I know i can’t disprove the article but there is no way u can prove it too.
            You seem to not understand the power of the internet, human flesh searches and discourse as well as criticism of the government have proven quite effective so I don’t get where that is coming from. The link to the article I posted generally spoke of the plans of the government here to put tighter restrictions on microblogs as they feel that it is ‘harmful’ to disseminate information that hasn’t been screened by them.
            Why would they go to such measures if they did not have something to hide? You would make a terrible journalist, I don’t mean it in an insulting way but just that you don’t seem to like questioning articles that seem a bit dodgy. I would totally believe this article if there was as you said some evidence to back up what happened.
            There isn’t much that you or I can do to change the situation here so why not have a discussion about it or do you have a better idea as to how the situation could be changed by lone individuals such as us?

          • SP

            Yeah I already summarised your stance: don’t believe ANY articles and doubt ALL details whether or not there’s a REASON for doubt. However, discuss how to make things better assuming the article is true.

            Er, no thanks. But feel free to continue that way.

            I’ve done my due diligence and know how to make my own judgement instead of becoming an extreme skeptic altogether.

            I’m sorry but I’m sure the one who doesn’t understand is you. I’m out of here.

          • Nyancat

            Real compelling argument u made there, the I’m right so you must be wrong one. Good for you though, I’ll watch the news for info about you changing the world. Godspeed.

      • Nib

        Were there seatbelts? Any chance they were trapped by them?

        • Nyancat

          I doubt that the policy of wearing seatbelts was enforced in this particular incident, seeing as how the driver was reckless it can be said that the educational institution didn’t highly regard the safety of the children. The problem with this article is the lack of pictures to give a clearer idea of what happened, too many kids died in this incident and it would seem that there is something fishy going on, but not according to SP.

  • rollin wit 9′s

    Tsingtao presents: Real fckn idiots!

    Today we salute you Mr. can’t drive because you paid for your license.
    In a society where even the people who passed drivers ed can’t drive, you make it worse by hopping in your overpriced Mercedes Benz and driving right over to the DMV – with a wad of cash.

    So crack open an ice cold Tsingtao Mr. causer of traffic accidents. Because we know that even if the law says don’t drink & drive, you’re drivin’ & drinkin.

    Tsingtao beer, Tsingdao Brewery Co., Shandong Province.

  • kevinnolongerinpudong

    Hopefully that girl rescued from under the car in the previous post walks to school rather than riding the school bus….

  • Dat Ankle

    This is incredibly sad, I cant imagine what the parents are going through.

    • DUXESTLUX

      Life in China is less valuable than in other countries, including those of the kids. Actually their suffering can be eliminated with a proper compensation

  • http://www.facebook.com/kedafu Kedafu

    Song of the Article

    Hail to the Bus Driver
    -some children’s song

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Je833u_8M

    wumaodang

  • diverdude

    I wish someone highly intelligent could explain to me why Chinese drivers drive the way they do. If you have spent much time over here, then you know what I am talking about.
    I have heard some say that part of Chinese culture is showing/having respect for others. Honestly, in my 5+ years here I do not see that to be the case. It seems on the roads, the great majority of the drivers do not care if they kill someone or not. Or maybe they just think, ‘well, it will never happen to me’. I dunno. I cannot figure it out. But it seems like respect is definitely not part of it. I ride in taxi’s and busses on a daily basis, they are the Most reckless drivers I can imagine. But then again, it seems most all thematic road-users are like that.
    Near my apartment, they commonly drive on the pedestrian sidewalk. That seemed odd to me the first few hundred times I witnessed it.
    They also drive around here at night with their headlights on hi-beam. I mean All the vehicles, All the time! Are they unaware that it makes it difficult for other people to see? How is blinding other drivers/pedestrians showing respect ?
    Flip side of the coin is ebikes race down the streets and sidewalks in my neighborhood (heavy pedestrian traffic) at night with no lights. It is simply a matter of time before they run down a child, elderly person or someone. To me, there are two very odd things about this. One, the drivers honestly do not seem to consider their behavior to be abnormal. Two, the populace does not seem to bat an eye to this sort of behavior.
    I am sad to say, it is as if they are less than intelligent. It takes an accident to make them notice.
    Newcomers to China- watch yourself very carefully when out and about.

    • http://candosino.wordpress.com terroir

      Fine, I’ll put myself up to the challenge. In the quickest explanation possible:

      China is a nothing but a set of old customs that are arranged in constant opposition to themselves. The respect that you speak of (面子) doesn’t have anything to do with people you don’t know, so the hell with them. This constant opposition creates a system that is in constant revolution (see: dynasties).

      Even quicker: driving in China is its own interpretation of freedom, lack of personal responsibility, fate and ignorance, but most importantly face.

      When looking at a car, don’t look at the driver – look at the license plate.

      • Anon

        @terrior’s race is a nothing but a set of old customs that are arranged in constant opposition to themselves. Maybe something like APARTHEID? The respect that @terrior speaks of (面子) that doesn’t have anything to do with people you don’t know, so the hell with @terrior’s race – TREACHERY and LAZINESS – at least for @terrior’s case.

        This constant opposition creates a system that is in constant regression (see: narrow communalism).

        Even quicker: driving in @terrior’s country is its own interpretation of oppression, lack of responsibility to others, fatalism and presumption, but most importantly attacking of others’ face because they lack their own.

        When looking at a car, do look at the driver – don’t look at the license plate. You’ll find a 口交 (if my guess is accurate) or a degree less of the same if not.

    • pervertt

      Not that I’m highly intelligent, but like you I was amazed the first time I visited China and saw the way ordinary people drive. On the footpath, on the wrong side of the road, stopping suddenly in the middle of high speed traffic – you name it. If there is a way to violate a traffic law, you would find it daily in Chinese cities. On my last visit to Shanghai earlier this year, I was nearly run over by some idiot on a bicycle when I crossed the road with a green pedestrian signal. He clearly expected me to give way.

      I don’t think Chinese drivers are technically incompetent. It obviously takes a great deal of alertness and skill to stay alive on Chinese roads. I think the appalling driving can be sheeted home to the attitudes that urban Chinese show to their fellow citizens. Something along the lines of ‘fuck you, don’t get in my way, I am more important and I will do what I want, so long as I don’t get penalised.’

      Until there is an attitudinal shift in the way ordinary Chinese view their fellow citizens, and until there is more stringent enforcement of traffic laws, I remain pessimistic about the high casualty rates on Chinese roads.

    • Anon

      Honestly, people make a lot of jokes about Chinese people seeing life in “widescreen” because of their eyes, but from the way they drive I feel more like they’re seeing a widescreen world in pan-and-scan; it’s like they have no peripheral vision and never turn their heads to compensate.

      • mr. weiner

        Turning your head is showing weakness. In Taiwan you are only responsible for a 20 degree visual ark at the front of the car. Everyone else behind or at the side of you can suck hind titty as it is your convenience that takes precidence.
        In many places [down south]traffic lights and signs are intended as suggestions only. Traffic police usually do nothing to educate or punish motorists only hanging around on the other side of illegal right hand tuning cars [against the lights] when it is the end of the month and they need to reach their quota of fines.
        I blame confusionististic thinking for this. The road tole in Taiwan is hideous and not something people like to talk about.

        • Just John

          That is why I take the MRT.
          I already got hit once by an SUV failing to stop at a red light, so better to just read while the train takes me to and from work.

          And PS. The cops in Taipei tend to hang out by the side of the road to have you pull over for illegal U-Turns also, not just against the light illegal right hand turns (Although I have been stopped for this one too…Fortunately, they don’t like dealing with people who don’t speak Chinese=P).

          • mr. weiner

            Their level of English proficiency is getting annoyingly good, gone are the days when I could gesticulate a lot and use deliberately mangled chinese and say “Dong bu ting! Dong bu ting!”…Ah happy days.

  • typingfromwork

    After seeing the conditions of the buses I would say that this one is down to human error. Fucking stupid drivers not watching the road, causing so many kids to die.

    • whataboutthis

      For the first time on record, the Chinese Communist party has lost all control, with the population of 20,000 in this southern fishing village now in open revolt.

      The last of Wukan’s dozen party officials fled on Monday after thousands of people blocked armed police from retaking the village, standing firm against tear gas and water cannons.

      Since then, the police have retreated to a roadblock, some three miles away, in order to prevent food and water from entering, and villagers from leaving. Wukan’s fishing fleet, its main source of income, has also been stopped from leaving harbour.

      The plan appears to be to lay siege to Wukan and choke a rebellion which began three months ago when an angry mob, incensed at having the village’s land sold off, rampaged through the streets and overturned cars.

      Although China suffers an estimated 180,000 “mass incidents” a year, it is unheard of for the Party to sound a retreat.
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      But on Tuesday The Daily Telegraph managed to gain access through a tight security cordon and witnessed the new reality in this coastal village.

      Thousands of Wukan’s residents, incensed at the death of one of their leaders in police custody, gathered for a second day in front of a triple-roofed pagoda that serves as the village hall.

      For five hours they sat on long benches, chanting, punching the air in unison and working themselves into a fury.

      At the end of the day, a fifteen minute period of mourning for their fallen villager saw the crowd convulsed in sobs and wailing for revenge against the local government.

      “Return the body! Return our brother! Return our farmland! Wukan has been wronged! Blood debt must be paid! Where is justice?” the crowd screamed out.

      Wukan’s troubles began in September, when the villagers’ collective patience snapped at an attempt to take away their land and sell it to property developers.

      “Almost all of our land has been taken away from us since the 1990s but we were relaxed about it before because we made our money from fishing,” said Yang Semao, one of the village elders. “Now, with inflation rising, we realise we should grow more food and that the land has a high value.”

      Thousands of villagers stormed the local government offices, chasing out the party secretary who had governed Wukan for three decades. In response, riot police flooded the village, beating men, women and children indiscriminately, according to the villagers.

      In the aftermath, the local government tried to soothe the bruised villagers, asking them to appoint 13 of their own to mediate between the two sides – a move which was praised. But after anger bubbled over again local officials hatched another plan to bring the rebellious village back under control. Last Friday, at 11.45 in the morning, four minibuses without license plates drove into Wukan and a team of men in plain clothes seized five of the village’s 13 representatives from a roadside restaurant.

      A second attack came at 4am on Sunday morning, when a thousand armed police approached the entrance to the village.

      “We had a team of 20 people watching out, and they saw the police searchlights. We had blocked the road with fallen trees to buy us time,” said Chen Xidong, a 23 year old. “They banged the warning drum and the entire village ran to block the police.”

      After a tense two-hour standoff, during which the villagers were hit with tear gas and water cannons, the police retreated, instead setting up the ring of steel around Wukan that is in force today. The village’s only source of food, at present, are the baskets of rice, fruit and vegetables carried across the fields on the shoulder poles of friendly neighbours.

      Then, on Monday, came the news that Xue Jinbo, one of the snatched representatives, had died in police custody, at the age of 43, from a heart attack. His family believe he was murdered.

      “There were cuts and bruises on the corners of his mouth and on his forehead, and both his nostrils were full of blood,” said Xue Jianwan, his 21-year-old daughter. “His chest was grazed and his thumbs looked like they had been broken backwards. Both his knees were black,” she added. “They refused to release the body to us.”

      Mr Xue’s death has galvanised his supporters and brought the explosive situation in the village to the brink. “We are not sleeping. A hundred men are keeping watch. We do not know what the government’s next move will be, but we know we cannot trust them ever again,” said Mr Chen. “I think they will try to prolong the situation, to sweat us out.”

      From behind the roadblock, a propaganda war has broken out. Banners slung by the side of the main road to Wukan urge drivers to “Safeguard stability against anarchy – Support the government!” Nearby, someone has scrawled, simply: “Give us back our land.”

      The news of Wukan’s loss has been censored inside China. But a blue screen, which interrupts television programmes every few minutes inside the village, insists that the “incidents” are the work of a seditious minority, and have now been calmed. “It is all lies,” said Ms Xue.

      Her brother, meanwhile, said life had improved since the first officials were driven out three months ago. “We found we were better at administration. The old officials turned out not to have had any accounts in their office, so they must have been swindling us. And we have a nightwatch now, to keep the village safe. We have all bonded together,” said Xue Jiandi, 19.

      With enough food to keep going in the short-term and a pharmacy to tend to the sick, the leaders of Wukan are confident about their situation.

      But it is difficult to imagine that it will be long before the Communist Party returns, and there are still four villagers in police custody.

      “I have just been to see my 25-year-old son,” Shen Shaorong, the mother of Zhang Jianding, one of the four, said as she cried on her knees. “He has been beaten to a pulp and his clothes were ripped. Please tell the government in Beijing to help us before they kill us all,”

      • mr. weiner

        Stand tall Wukan, my hopes are with you.

  • Shanghairen

    The Chinese aren’t good at walking either. If you walk in a city for a few minutes you’ll see a few near collisions.

  • Brendan

    Wait a minute… the bus driver did all this to avoid hitting a scooter? Bad save bro…. those puttering twats annoy the fuck out of everyone! We should reward drivers that mangle these wreckless clowns who don’t have the balls to ride a motorcycle but think they are too damn good to use a bicycle.

    Plus, since when in the hell has a bus driver ever avoided hitting anything?

  • jiayi

    Everything in China is made out of bamboo canes, children’s milk teeth and shellac. Even their buses.

  • O.R. Gazm

    China needs to toughen the regulations on issuing driver’s license. I doubt if there is real training or tests going on.
    “You pay, you got a license” that’s how it is.

    1 against 60? Collateral damage? 1 dies because their stupid on traffic rules? Or 60 innocent children?

    Hard to decide?!?

  • Meh

    This is really sad. Children shouldnt’ have to worry for their lives when going to and coming from school. But with all this happening if I were still a young students using public transportation I would fear for my life just trying to make it to class.

    • Nyancat

      yeah seriously there should be a much stricter screening process for drivers of school buses, but then again even if the drivers are careful what about other drives of trucks and lorries , the bottom line is traffic rules, regulations and safety are severely lacking.

  • Lily

    that’s just so sad .Children are our future !If a country can not protect their children ,what would that be like .I just can not imagine.our goverment talk big how they have improved our life every day , why not do some real stuff ? maybe you foreign guys don’t konw what life in China ,i will tell you ,it is sometimes like a living hell !

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