Bus caught fire on stack of straw

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Authorities in Central China's Henan province said the school bus that caught fire on Monday had become stuck on a pile of straw before it was engulfed in flames that killed four children on board.

The bus driver could not move the vehicle after it got stuck on a 70-cm-high pile of straw on a lane in Zhangyi village of Puyang, the city government's information office said in a statement on Wednesday.

The bus, which was taking children home after school late Monday afternoon, caught fire as the driver was trying to clear the road of straw, it said.

Investigators said the overheated catalytic converter and muffler set the straw on fire.

The eight-seat minibus was carrying 13 children at the time of the accident.

Four children died at the scene and three were injured. The bus driver and one of the preschoolers were seriously injured.

The minibus belongs to Doucunji Kindergarten, the statement said, adding that the kindergarten's executive manager, Chu Lili, is under police control.

It said the kindergarten was unlicensed and its school bus, which was purchased in December 2010, had been illegally renovated to run on natural gas.

Puyang's traffic police and education authorities had ordered the bus to halt service in a safety overhaul last year, but the bus continued to operate despite the order.

The safety of school buses in China has become a hot topic after a series of accidents shocked the country.

In another move to strengthen traffic safety, the Ministry of Public Security said on Wednesday that a national traffic safety campaign saw 1,436 bus and truck drivers have their licenses suspended over drug use from March to May.

Of the total, 235 have had their driver's licenses revoked, said a statement from the ministry.The ministry said that since the campaign was launched in late March, traffic accidents involving buses dropped 21.7 percent over the same period last year.

Questions:

1. How many children died in the blaze?

2. When was the school bus purchased?

3. How many driving licenses have been revoked?

Answers:

1. Four.

2. December 2010.

3. 235.

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.