The bus driver who ended up in a lake, killing 21 people in China last week, acted deliberately, furious at the demolition of his home, local police said.
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The drama took place on July 7 in Anshun, in the poor province of Guizhou (southwest). High school students passing the baccalaureate exams were on board. On video surveillance images broadcast by the authorities, the vehicle suddenly changes course and crosses the opposite direction of traffic before breaking through a safety barrier and diving into a lake located below a small slope.
The investigation revealed that the bus driver, a Mr. Zhang, 52, was " unhappy with his life " and upset by the discovery on the same day of the drama of " the (announced) demolition of the accommodation he rented "Anshun police said on Sunday in a social media release. The driver had been drinking alcohol while on duty.
The information was first reported on Friday by the economic magazine Caixin , before being blocked online. Land expropriations and expeditious demolitions of housing by local officials to carry out development projects are a major source of anger and instability in China.
" I understand it "
Monday, many media reported the information, also widely followed on social networks. " Why inflict your suffering on so many families? Asked a user on the Weibo network in the direction of the deceased driver. But others also raised the question of expropriations and compensation that were too low for people whose homes were demolished. " I have no sympathy for (the driver) but I understand it, " wrote a surfer.
At the end of 2018, a dispute aboard a public bus traveling on a bridge in Chongqing (southwest) had caused the vehicle to fall in the Yangtze, the longest river in China, and the death of at least 13 people .