50 Die in 3 Accidents Within 3 Days in China

Yang Dacai, the Director of the Administration of Work Safety, Shanxi Province, was singled out for criticism recently after he was pictured smiling next to the burnt out wreck of a vehicle after a high-speed collision in which 36 people died. (Weibo.com)

A bus and a tanker collided and burst into flames, killing 36 people in China’s northwestern Shaanxi Province, on Aug. 26.

The accident occurred around 2:40 a.m. near the city of Yan'an. A double-decker sleeper bus appeared to have rear-ended a tanker carrying methanol, killing all but three of its 39 passengers.

An incident investigation group was sent to the site by the State Council, according to a report by state-run media Xinhua, indicating that central regime officials were concerned about the incident.

Another crash killed 11 of 12 passengers when a van hit a large truck on an expressway in Sichuan Province Sunday afternoon. The truck had pulled to the side of the road for repairs, local workers said, according to Xinhua.

Three more people died when a bridge collapsed on Friday, Aug. 24, in the city of Harbin in northeastern China. The Yangmingtan Bridge had been in use for less than a year and cost 1.88 billion yuan (US$294 million) to build. The collapse led to questions about official corruption, especially after sticks and bags were found in the debris. Corrupt officials in China have been known to use substandard materials in infrastructure projects while embezzling the difference.

Indifferent Official