At least 11 people, including five students, were killed when a school bus ran over a crowd of people in Dongping county in eastern China.
Several others were injured, one of them seriously, according to state media.
The bus appears to have hit the students and parents while they were standing outside the gate of a school in Tai’an city, Shandong province.
State media reported that the driver “lost control” of the vehicle and has been taken into custody as police investigate the cause of the incident. It is unclear whether the incident was intentional.
Chinese state media confirmed that the bus hit a group of children and parents standing on the side of the road, “taking the total number of dead to date to 11 people (including six parents and five students).”
The condition of the other twelve is stable.
Photos and videos of the incident are being shared on social media, in which people are seen trapped under the vehicle.
The incident occurred just days after students returned to school for the start of the new academic year.
Deadly traffic accidents are frequent in China. In July this year, police reported that a vehicle hit a group of pedestrians in the central city of Changsha, killing eight people and injuring several others.
