Driver sentenced for fatal accident

A driver surnamed He will have to serve a jail term and pay compensation of hundreds of thousands of yuan after his overloaded van turned over, killing a 5-year-old girl in Doumen of Zhuhai, Guangdong province, Guangzhou Daily reported.

The Doumen District People's Court sentenced He to a year in jail and to pay additional compensation of about 310,000 yuan ($51,090) to the victim's family. He had already paid them 30,000 yuan.

Although He had insurance for his van, the court ruled the insurance company did not have to pay any compensation as the van was carrying more passengers than it should and therefore the driver bore full responsibility for the death of the girl.

The deadly accident happened on Sept 5 when a tire on He's van blew out, and he lost control and overturned on a highway.

He had been hired by the girl's father to rush the family from Guangdong to a funeral in Hunan province.

The van, with a capacity of eight passengers, had 11 people on board when the accident took place.

The other passengers on board suffered minor injuries in the accident.