Eleven children killed in China school bus crash

At least 11 Chinese kindergarten children have died after the minivan they were travelling to school in, plunged into a pond. Fifteen children were in the vehicle when it crashed in a rural part of southern Jiangxi province. Chinese TV reports that the van may have been travelling too fast and was forced to swerve to avoid a parked car. The driver has been arrested. The accident is one of a string of deadly road accidents in China. In rural areas, many buses and trucks are old and badly maintained. “(I saw) a teacher at the door. She was holding a child up so that she stayed above the water. It was my daughter so I stretched out my hand and pulled her up. Then I pulled out another child the teacher was holding. I tried to save anyone I could,” said Tong Huibing, local resident and father of one of the survivors. Three children died on the spot. Another eight died at a local hospital after being pulled from the pond. There was much public anger after the deaths of 18 nursery school children in a similar bus crash in November 2011. After that accident, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged more money for school bus services.