China's flood death toll continues to rise, including two schoolchildren
At least 57 dead, including two children aboard a bus carrying twice its legal load
The death toll in the mainland's latest round of flooding has risen to at least 57, including two schoolchildren aboard a bus carrying more than twice its authorised passenger load that plunged into a pond, authorities said yesterday.
At least 13 other people are missing in floods that have ravaged mountain districts of six provinces and autonomous regions in the mainland's central and southeastern regions. More than 250,000 people have been moved to temporary shelters, and major damage has been inflicted on buildings and crops.
Among the dead were 16 people killed in the collapse of a nine-storey building in the city of Guiyang following a landslide.
The Guangxi government said another 21 kindergarten students were sent to the hospital after Friday's bus accident, with three listed in serious condition. The bus was licensed to carry 11, but had 26 on board.
The driver, teachers and school administrators had been taken into custody, the government said.
Overloaded buses have been involved in accidents killing scores of children in recent years as local schools are closed and consolidated into larger campuses farther away from the children's village homes.