Eight People Arrested for Deadly Bus Accident

Eight people who prosecutors say are responsible for a bus accident which killed 79 people on July 7 in the southwestern China city of Liuzhou have been arrested.

Hao Zhizhen, former director of the fourth engineering office of the Liuzhou Urban Utility Maintenance Department, and Wu Zheng, Luo Maoliang and Li Shuhua, workers and safety officers of the department, are in custody for failing to adequately supervise workers on a bridge repair project, indirectly contributing to the tragedy.

Pan Tianming, Pan Yanyang, Peng Changheng and Liu Heping, all temporary workers with the department, allegedly directly caused the accident, according to a city prosecutor.

On the day of the accident, Hao Zhizhen, Wu Zheng, Luo Maoliang and Li Shuhua, who were overseeing the safety and quality of repair work on Hudong Bridge, did not go to the work site to supervise their maintenance men, leaving the four alone to do the job.

According to the prosecutor, the four workers failed to remove cement partitions from the Hudong Bridge after finishing their work. That night, a bus with the Liuzhou bus company crashed into the cement partitions and lost control, plunging into the river.



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