Compensation promised for Ningxia bus arson victims' families

The families of 17 victims who died in a suspected arson attack on a bus in northwest China will each get 750,000 yuan (about 114,000 U.S.dollars) compensation from the bus company, the local government announced on Monday.

A bus caught fire on the morning of Jan. 5 in Yinchuan City, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The fire left 17 people dead and 33 injured.

Mourners observed a minute's silence and laid bouquets of flowers at a public ceremony in the city center on Monday.

Police detained arson suspect Ma Yongping on Jan. 5. The procuratorate in Yinchuan approved the arrest on Sunday.

It said Ma had been in a financial dispute with a construction contractor and expressed his discontent by setting the bus on fire.