Snowy day fun for some
A child has some winter fun on Thursday in Fuyang, Anhui province, after heavy snow across much of the country on Wednesday night froze transportation and led to cancellation of classes.
Two people have been detained in connection with a fatal crash that police suspect was caused by two vehicles racing on an icy road toward a tourist hot spot in northeastern China.
Four female Beijing college students were killed on Sunday when the minibus they were traveling in to visit Snow Town, a popular winter resort in Heilongjiang province, skidded off the road and overturned.
Harbin police say the minibus driver, surnamed Feng, who also died in the crash, had been racing with a private car before the accident.
On Wednesday, the driver of the car, surnamed Zhao, was detained for endangering public safety. The owner of the minibus — identified as Tang from Hailin, Heilongjiang — is also being held on suspicion of operating an illegal business.
According to police statements, the crash happened at 7:14 am after Zhao overtook the minibus and hit a guardrail on the left hand side of the road. To avoid a collision, Feng swerved sharply, causing the vehicle to leave the road.
The minibus had been carrying 12 people, including nine female students from Beijing Forestry University and two from other colleges. The students who died were all from BFU.
Police said the 15-seat vehicle was not authorized for business use, although they added that Feng held the necessary license to drive the minibus.
BFU posted a statement on Sina Weibo on Wednesday that said a team led by Wang Hongyuan, the university’s Party chief, had been sent to Heilongjiang to help with the investigations.
It confirmed that the nine students were all seniors and had been traveling from Harbin to Snow Town.
Among the five survivors from BFU, two are fighting for their lives in intensive care and the other three are in stable condition, the statement said. The university declined to release more details when contacted by China Daily on Thursday.
Video footage from the accident shared on social media by Beijing News shows the minibus was seriously damaged, while the land beside the road was covered in snow.
“The road seemed slippery,” said Liu Keang, a tourist from Beijing, who used the same road to visit Snow Town on Saturday. “I choose to take a bus with about 40 people operated by travel agency. We had to drive very slowly.”