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China bus driver deliberately crashed and killed 21 people over house demolition, police say

Rescue workers attend the scene where the bus crashed into a lake - STR/AFP via Getty Images
Rescue workers attend the scene where the bus crashed into a lake - STR/AFP via Getty Images

A Chinese bus driver upset that his home would be demolished had been drinking at the wheel before plunging his vehicle into a reservoir, killing 21 people including students heading to their college entrance exams, police say.

The bus careered into a lake in the city of Anshun in the southwest province of Guizhou last Tuesday.

The driver, surnamed Zhang, "was unhappy about his life and about the demolition of the public-owned house he rented," Anshun city police said in a statement on Sunday.

Anshun emergency authorities have said five students heading to their university entrance exams were among those killed, while 15 other people were hurt.

On the morning of the incident, Zhang saw that the house was about to be demolished and rang a government hotline to complain, the police statement said.

It said Zhang had signed an agreement in June authorising the demolition and had been promised more than 72,000 yuan ($10,000) in compensation, which he left unclaimed.

But news media reported that he had not been able to secure alternative housing, leaving him homeless when the demolition went ahead.

Zhang is suspected of deliberately "conducting 'an extreme crime'", the police statement said.

They found that Zhang, 52, had been drinking alcohol while passengers got on and off the bus. As he approached the reservoir, Zhang suddenly veered across five lanes of traffic, through a guardrail and into the water, police said. Zhang drowned and an autopsy found alcohol in his system.

A hashtag relating to the Anshun police statement gained over 1 billion views on Weibo, a Chinese social media site, by Monday morning, with many comments condemning the driver.

"Why impose your own pain on so many families?" wrote one user.

Critics say the case shines a light on problems caused by China's urban redevelopment schemes, which often displace residents living in older accommodation who cannot afford the prices charged for new properties.