On Tuesday, September 3, 2024, a school bus in Tai’an city, Shandong province, China, plowed into a group of people, leading to 11 fatalities. The victims included five pupils and six parents, who were all gathered outside the school gates at the time of the tragedy.
As per the state media, the bus lost control and rammed into the crowd, resulting in significant fatalities and injuries. Besides the deaths, the accident also left 13 individuals injured. The bus was ferrying students when the incident happened.
Following the accident, local law enforcement detained the driver of the bus. An investigation was immediately launched to ascertain the cause of the crash. While the motives behind the incident remain unclear, the police are taking the matter very seriously.
Images circulating on social media depicted adults attending to injured children clad in blood-soaked clothes, lying on the road next to the large grey bus. Initially, the authenticity of these images was questionable, but they were later verified as being from the scene of the accident in Shandong.
The accident happened shortly after the beginning of the new school year, intensifying the sorrow felt by the community. It underscores the persisting issue of fatal traffic accidents in China, following a similar incident in Changsha in July that claimed eight lives and left several injured.
The school where the crash occurred temporarily halted classes and is offering counseling services to students and staff affected by the incident.
Issues concerning school safety, such as overcrowded buses and poorly designed buildings, have been ongoing problems in China. A tragic event occurred in 2017 in Weihai, Shandong province, where a school bus crashed and burst into flames inside a tunnel, killing 12 individuals, including 11 pre-schoolers. The victims comprised the driver, six Chinese children, and five South Korean children. The cause of this crash, whether deliberate or due to hazardous driving conditions, remains unresolved.