At least 5 killed in China as hijacked bus crashes into pedestrians

BEIJING — At least five people were killed and 21 injured after a hijacked bus crashed into pedestrians in east China’s Fujian province on Tuesday afternoon, state media reported.

A hijacker carrying a knife had been detained and was being investigated by local police, state television CGTN reported.

The incident happened at about 3:20 p.m. in the city of Longyan, the local Minxi Ribao newspaper reported. A policeman was among the five confirmed dead.

A video posted by Duowei news, a Chinese media outlet based in the US, showed several injured people lying on the street near a crashed bus. It also showed police wrestling a person to the ground.

The Longyan public security bureau declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

China has suffered several similar incidents this year.

In late November, a car rammed into a group of children crossing a street in front of an elementary school in northeast China’s Liaoning province, killing five people and injuring another 18.

Earlier that month, about 15 people died when a bus plunged off a bridge in southwest Chongqing municipality, after the driver got into a fist fight with a passenger who had missed her bus stop.

In February, a van packed with pressurised gas tanks and petrol-filled bottles caught fire and ploughed into pedestrians in Shanghai, leaving at least 18 people injured.

Grisly car accidents are common in China, where transportation authorities have struggled to enforce safety regulations, which are often flouted or go unenforced. /kga