Bus crashes into students and parents in eastern China, leaving 11 dead and 13 injured, police said

A view of victims of a bus crash in Dongping county, China's Shandong province. This still image is from a social media video on September 3, 2024. (Videograb via Reuters)

Early Tuesday (September 3, 2024), a bus crashed into a group of students and their parents at a school in eastern China, killing 11 people and injuring 13, police said.

The students and parents were at the gate of a middle school in Tai'an city in the eastern province of Shandong shortly before 7:30 a.m., the Dongping County Police Department said in a post on social media.

Six parents and five students were killed, it was said. One of the injured is in serious condition, while the condition of the others is considered stable, the department said.

The driver is in police custody and the incident is being investigated, it said.

The bus was specially converted to transport students, it was said. It was not said who was responsible for operating the bus. Many schools outsource such services to private companies or individuals.

School safety has long been a problem in China, including overcrowded school buses and poorly designed buildings.

In 2017, a dozen people, including 11 kindergarten children, were killed in the eastern Chinese city of Weihai (also in Shandong province) when a school bus crashed in a tunnel and burst into flames. The driver, six Chinese and five South Korean children were killed. It is still unclear whether the accident was intentional or the result of unsafe driving.

China has cracked down on transport hazards through increased training and vehicle inspections.

China has also seen numerous attacks on schoolchildren in recent years, often involving knives or homemade explosives. The suspects usually harbored grudges and sought revenge for personal reasons or against society in general.