China’s fatal quarantine bus crash sparks online outcry over Covid-19 controls

Social media topics related to the accident viewed more than 400 million times, one day after 27 died and 20 were injured

3 district officials suspended amid investigation into the cause of the incident

Reading Time:4 minutes

An aerial view of a Covid-19 community testing site in Guiyang, southwest China, where residents are being sent to quarantine facilities hundreds of kilometres away. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:00am, 20 Sep 2022Updated: 9:19am, 20 Sep 2022

Anger in China over strict Covid-19 measures flared to a level matching the early days of the pandemic, after a bus carrying people from the southern city of Guiyang to a quarantine centre crashed on Sunday, killing 27 and injuring 20.

Guiyang vice-mayor Lin Gang apologised on Sunday night after the crash, which happened soon after 2am as the bus was heading to Libo, a mountainous county about 260km (160 miles) from the city.

He did not elaborate on the government’s role in the crash, or what the apology was for. Instead, Lin said the government would “inspect safety risks in transporting people to quarantine” as well as investigate the cause of the incident.

Three officials from Yunyan district, where the bus victims were from, were suspended from duty pending an investigation, the Guizhou provincial government said on Monday.

The officials are district Communist Party secretary Zhu Gang; Song Chengqiang, who was in charge of transferring residents; and Xiao Lingyun, deputy party secretary of police in Yunyan.

An unidentified official said the province and city were investigating the crash and those responsible would be punished.