School bus safety

Monday's deadly school bus accident in Jiangxi province is a fresh example of local governments' impotence in implementing a regulation of China's Cabinet aimed at ensuring school bus safety that was promulgated in April.

Three children were killed at the scene when a seven-seater van overloaded with 15 kindergarten children fell into a roadside pond in a village in Binjiang township in the city of Guixi. Eight more later died in hospital.

According to media reports, the van was speeding when the accident occurred and the driver was the head of Chunlei kindergarten, which is unlicensed and has been shut down more than once by the local government. The police have detained the driver and investigations into the cause of the accident are under way. A 480,000-yuan ($77,000) compensation deal has been struck between the local government and every victim's family.