Chen Jia is taken to the court on May 20. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - A Chinese court on Friday sentenced to life in prison a drunk driver who killed two people and injured two others after crashing his Infiniti sedan with a car and a bus in downtown Beijing.

Related readings: New drunk driving law shouldn't be watered down  Drunk driving incidents in China drop sharply  Star is fined for expired license after drunk crash  Drunk driving kills 3 in Beijing

Chen Jia was convicted of endangering public safety by hazardous means by the No 2 intermediate court of Beijing. Chen was ordered to pay 3.66 million yuan ($563,078) in compensation to the victims' families.

Chen was found to have driven his black Infiniti under the influence of alcohol at dawn on May 9, 2010, when his car collided with a white Fiat and then a bus at an intersection in downtown Beijing. He is accused of fleeing the scene but was taken into custody 10 hours later, investigators have said.