Four killed in bus plunge
44 others hurt as students were on their way to sit for exam
CHANGSHA: Four died and 44 others were injured after a bus loaded with a 47-strong school party on its way to sit for an exam fell off a 30m-high slope at Yongzhou City in Hunan province, local authorities said.
The accident happened at 5.50pm on Thursday, when the bus, loaded with 46 students and one teacher from Hunan Daoxian County Junior Normal College, along with the driver, was on its way from Daoxian to Yongzhou, sources said.
Two students died at the scene and another two died after being sent to hospital, said an official with the Yongzhou municipal government in a press release.
Eight were seriously or critically injured while the rest suffered slight injuries.
All the injured were being treated in the affiliated hospital of Yongzhou Vocational Technical College.
Among the eight, seven were out of danger after emergency treatment, but one remained in critical condition, the official said yesterday.
Two specialists from Yongzhou City Central Hospital have joined the doctors in the affiliated hospital to save the injured whose life is still in danger, said the official.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Ouyang Ping, a 21-year-old survivor, recalled the “horrible” moment of the crash.
“I suddenly saw branches and leaves out of the bus window, and I realized something was wrong. The bus crashed to the ground before I had time to protect my head. We were all upside down.”
“People were screaming. It was horrible.” Ouyang sat at the back of the bus and managed to climb out through the window. He then helped two other students out.
“I didn’t realise I lost one of my teeth until I climbed up the slope,” he said, with his mouth swollen.
The students, aged between 17 and 21, from the junior college with 3,000 students, were heading to Yongzhou as scheduled to sit the higher education self-study exam, said Mo Junxue, an official of the college office. — Xinhua