11 Schoolchildren in Overcrowded Van Killed in Shandong Traffic Accident

Posted: 11/21/2014 9:45 am

A van carrying too many schoolchildren was involved in a traffic accident in Shandong Province that left 11 children and the van’s driver dead.

At 7:31am on Wednesday in Penglai, a tractor trailer carrying a full load of sand overturned onto the van, covering more than two-thirds of the vehicle. The roof of the van collapsed from the weight and shattered its windows. Three people in the van were lucky to suffer from only slight injuries. Xinhua reports the kids were on their way to kindergarten when the accident happened.

Police say the maximum occupancy of the van is eight people, but it had 15 people on board when the accident happened. The driver of the tractor trailer has been detained by police.

Public interest in instituting certified school buses peaked in 2011 after a traffic accident involving an unlicensed school vehicle caused the deaths of 18 schoolchildren. The vehicle was transporting a total 64 preschoolers, and was only equipped with nine seats.

This past July, 11 passengers that included schoolchildren were killed when a van drove into a reservoir in Southern China. Earlier in April, eight schoolchildren died in a bus crash in Hainan Province.

However, public interest in using these new school buses have since waned. As previously reported, a Zhejiang lot is currenty filled with 52 unused new school buses because no one is willing to pay for them.