12 officials suspended over children deaths

GUIXI, Jiangxi, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Twelve officials, including a vice mayor, have received work suspensions after 11 children died in a traffic accident on Monday in east China.

Eleven kindergarten students died following the traffic accident in which a van carrying 15 children and one teacher plunged into a roadside pond on Monday morning in a rural area of Guixi City, Jiangxi Province.

Police have detained the van's driver, who is also the head of the kindergarten, for questioning. A total of 12 officials, including the vice mayor of Guixi and directors of the education and transportation bureaus, were suspended from work for further investigation.

A thorough inspection of all school buses in the province has been launched in an effort to prevent similar accidents.

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