Bus fire in northeast China kills 10, injures 17

USPA News - Ten people were killed Wednesday and more than a dozen others were injured when a fire broke out on board a private bus in northeast China, state-run media reported, just days after another bus fire claimed the lives of six people. The latest incident happened at approximately 7:05 a.m. local time on Wednesday when a shuttle bus of the Fukang wood company caught fire while traveling along a street in Jilin, a city in the northeastern province that carries the same name.

The state-run Xinhua news agency said ten people were killed and seventeen others were injured. It said a total of 43 people were on board the shuttle bus at the time of the blaze. There was no immediate word on the cause of the incident, but local police have launched an investigation. On Sunday, a man who "lost his mental balance" after accusing his wife of infidelity, ignited a barrel of gasoline on a bus in southwest China`s Guizhou Province. The fire left six dead, 35 injured and the suspect was taken into custody. Roads in China are known to be among the most dangerous in the world with more than 70,000 fatalities and 300,000 injuries a year, according to the country`s Public Security Ministry. Many accidents are the result of drivers violating traffic laws, fatigue, poor road conditions and overloaded vehicles. In June 2013, a bus in the eastern Chinese city of Xiamen burst into flames, killing 47 people and injuring 34 others. And in June 2009, a bus in the Chinese city of Chengdu caught fire, killing 25 passengers.