Driver set fire to the school bus in China: Investigators

Beijing: A fatal school bus fire in China last month in which 11 school children including five from South Korea were killed was caused by its driver, the state media reported on Friday.

Besides the 11 children, two adults, including the bus driver, was killed in the accident on May 9. Of the 11 children, aged between three and six, five were from South Korea and six others hailed from China.

The bus was set on fire by the driver, one of the dead, officials were quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.

They were all students of an international kindergarten in Weihai, local authorities said. One teacher was reported to have been seriously injured in the incident.

The incident happened inside Taojiakuang tunnel in Huancui District of the Shandong province when the bus was on its way to the kindergarten with 13 people on board, including the teacher.

The provincial government has assigned a team headed by a vice provincial governor to investigate the incident.