After discovering that his home had been demolished, a bus driver deliberately crashed his bus full of passengers. The tragic incident happened in southwestern China when the driver drove his bus directly into a reservoir.
On Monday, local police in China said that 21 people had died and 15 others were injured after a driver crashed his bus into a lake. The bus reportedly swerved across five lanes of traffic before smashing through a guard rail and partially sinking.
12 students were among those on the bus, with five of them losing their lives. According to China Central Television, some of those students were about to take their college entrance exams.
The driver, Zhang, was also killed in the incident.
“Zhang was unsatisfied with his life and with the demolition of his rented public house. In order to get noticed, he committed an extreme criminal act,” said the Anshun police in a statement.
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According to the police, Zhang was scheduled to start his shift at noon that day. However, he asked another driver if he could start earlier. Then, just after 9 am, he purchased a strong Chinese alcohol called baijiu, pouring it into a plastic beverage container.
Zhang was seen drinking from the container shortly before driving his bus into the reservoir. Prior to the crash, Zhang also sent his girlfriend a voice message to explain he had “world-weary” feelings.
China Daily, the state-run media, said that Zhang actually hadn’t lived at the rental property he was given in some time. They also revealed that he knew the house was marked for demolition.
As a result, he had applied for compensation and new housing. However, he was turned down for new accommodation and he also didn’t accept the $10,360 he was offered for losing his home.
It was on the day of the crash that Zhang discovered that the home had already been demolished, which left him homeless.
Forced demolitions of old housing to make room for new development is a common occurrence in China. This is especially true for people who live in more rural, less developed areas.
As a result, many residents of older housing are left homeless. Not only that, but they are left unable to pay for new housing that is more expensive. Finding used home dealers isn’t as easy as finding used car dealers.
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