Explosion on Bus in Yunnan Kills One, Injures Others

A passenger bus in southwest China’s Yunan Province exploded on the afternoon of Feb. 27, killing one passenger and injuring 11 others.
Explosion on Bus in Yunnan Kills One, Injures Others
3/1/2010
Updated:
3/2/2010
A passenger bus in southwest China’s Yunnan Province exploded on the afternoon of Feb. 27, killing one passenger and injuring 11 others. 

An eyewitness reported seeing smoke emitting from a bag under a passenger seat a few seconds before the explosion occurred, according to a report in Yunnan Info Daily on March 1.

The powerful blast shattered all the windows and ripped the ventilation cover from the roof of the bus. Huxi County police searched a hill near the site, though it was unclear what they were looking for. They refused to answer questions from a Yunnan Info Daily reporter who said they were still at the scene investigating the incident 24 hours later.

The bus driver, Liu Yungang, told the reporter that when he arrived at Wujiepu Township, he picked up 15 passengers from two other buses who were also heading toward Mile County. There were a total of 18 passengers on his bus when he took off from Wujiepu Township. The bus exploded after he drove another 5 kilometers.

Liu said the powerful explosion shook the car and the passengers and blew a big hole in the bus. He was thrown from his seat and his head almost hit the roof of the bus. Because he smelled dynamite fumes he thought that it must have been caused by a powerful explosive. He thinks the man who carried the explosive was one of the 15 passengers he took from the other two buses.

A witness who was hospitalized for serious injuries told Yunnan Info Daily that she smelled dynamite before the explosion. She turned to look back, and saw smoke coming from under a seat in the second to the last row. “A few seconds later, the explosion occurred at that spot.”

She said the man who died was the 30-something-year-old man who was sitting in that seat.

An Epoch Times reporter called the Huxi County Public Security Bureau, but his calls were either unanswered or someone hung up immediately.

An official at the Wujiepu Township government told the reporter that the driver of the bus was sent to the Department of Otolaryngology at Mile County People’s Hospital. He advised the reporter to contact the Huxi Public Security Bureau which is investigating the incident.

The reporter then contacted a doctor at the Mile County People’s Hospital who said that the driver’s condition had improved and that another seven wounded passengers were also being treated in the hospital. He refused to reveal more information.

Read the original Chinese article: http://epochtimes.com/gb/10/3/1/n2831932.htm