A bus driver was found responsible for an incident in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province that killed 21, as an investigation result showed that he was drunk driving and intentionally caused the accident to vent his anger over the demolition of his house.
A bus carrying passengers including students plunged into a reservoir in Anshun, Guizhou on July 7, the first day of the college entrance exams, killing 21 and injuring 15.
The tragedy was intentionally caused by the driver, a 52-year-old man surnamed Zhang, to vent his discontent after the house he was living in, which was distributed by the institute he formerly worked for, was demolished, said an announcement the Anshun police released on Sunday.
The house was included in a local urban renovation project in 2016. In June this year, Zhang signed an agreement with local authorities to receive more than 72,000 yuan ($10,282) in compensation, which he did not claim. He also applied for a public rental house but was not approved, police said.
Zhang, who was divorced in 2016, once called a government service line to express his discontent over these issues, according to the police.
On the morning of July 7, Zhang asked a colleague to shift duties with him. He bought a bottle of baijiu and put the liquor into a beverage bottle, which he took to work, police said.
At 11:39 am on that day, Zhang called his girlfriend and said he was disgusted with life. At 12:09 pm, he drank some baijiu from the bottle when the bus stopped at a station for passengers to get on and off.
At 12:12 pm, when the bus passed by the Hongshan reservoir, Zhang slowed down the vehicle before he suddenly accelerated and went across five lanes, destroying barriers and plunging into the reservoir, read the announcement.
Anshun police said that Zhang drowned in the tragedy and autopsy resulted showed that his blood ethanol content reached 64.46 per 100 milligrams. Nobody else interfered with his driving, police noted.
Zhang was suspected of the serious crime of endangering public safety with dangerous methods, according to police.
Rescuers work at the site of a bus accident in Xixiu District of Anshun, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, July 7, 2020. (Photo by Long Rui/Xinhua)
