Head-on collision of a kindergarten minibus with a truck loaded with coal in Northwestern China. - AP Photo.

BEIJING: At least six people have been killed in the latest crash involving students in China when their overloaded van plunged off a mountain road, state media said Sunday.

The official Xinhua News Agency said an overloaded van taking 12 students home crashed into a 195-foot (60-meter) deep valley in southwest China on Saturday. It said the eight-seat van was carrying 14 people and the other eight, including six students, were all hurt.

The report did not give the ages of the students or the cause of the accident. Xinhua said the crash happened on a mountainous road in Yunnan province. A local government official confirmed the accident but would not give any details. A local news portal in Yunnan showed a picture of the van, with all its sides and roof crushed in.

Badly maintained school transport has been the focus of public anger in recent weeks after a series of accidents in which children were killed on their way to and from school, leading China's safety regulator to demand immediate action to improve safety aboard frequently overloaded and badly maintained school buses.

Earlier this month, a school bus taking primary students home slipped off a country road into an irrigation ditch in the eastern province of Jiangsu, killing 15 children. Officials later acknowledged the bus was overloaded.

In the worst recent accident, 19 children and two adults were killed last month when a nine-seat private kindergarten van packed with 62 students crashed head-on with a truck in northwest Gansu province.

The crashes came amid a national debate over the poor condition of Chinese school buses and chronic underfunding of public schools, particularly in rural areas, which have lagged far behind cities over the past three decades of rapid economic development.

Road safety is also a serious problem in China, with many accidents caused by poorly maintained roads and bad driving habits.

Opinion

Editorial

E-governance
Updated 10 Jan, 2025

E-governance

Wishing for a viable e-governance system seems like a pipe dream when stable internet connectivity is not guaranteed.
Khuzdar rampage
Updated 10 Jan, 2025

Khuzdar rampage

Authorities must explain how terrorists were able to commandeer the area for eight hours.
Beyond wheelchairs
10 Jan, 2025

Beyond wheelchairs

THE KP government’s Rs370m assistance programme for persons with disabilities is a positive step, not only in ...
Taking cover
Updated 09 Jan, 2025

Taking cover

IT is unfortunate that, instead of taking ownership of important decisions, our officials usually seem keener to ...
A living hell
09 Jan, 2025

A living hell

WHAT Donald Trump does domestically when he enters the White House in just under two weeks is frankly the American...
A right denied
09 Jan, 2025

A right denied

DESPITE citizens possessing the constitutional and legal right to access it, federal ministries are failing to...