Fist fight caused fatal China bus plunge
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Security footage from a bus which crashed into a river in China has revealed that the driver was fighting with a passenger moments earlier.
The bus plunged 50m off a bridge into the Yangtze River in Chongqing on Sunday - at least 13 people died and two more are missing.
Early reports said the bus had swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle.
But the new footage shows the driver was being hit by a passenger at the time and struck back, losing control.
Police have said the fight was the cause of the crash, state newspaper China Daily reports.
Passengers can be heard screaming in the disturbing footage, shared by Chinese state media.
Witnesses had said they saw the bus swerve across to the wrong side of the road before crashing through a safety barrier in the Wanzhou district.
A huge rescue operation was mounted but there have been no reports of survivors.
The wreckage of the bus was pulled out of the river from a depth of 71m on Wednesday night. Several of the passengers' bodies had to be retrieved by divers.
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Sad for the others om the bus-there's another reason people are supposed to stay behind the 'line'.
Buzz, are they saying anything more about this over there?
I didn't know anything about it until I read the article you posted. I just asked my wife and her niece who is staying over with us about it and they knew about it, but nothing more than in the report. I've never been on that bridge, or any that cross the Yangtze River, only on bridges that cross the Jialing River that joins the Yangtze River south of downtown. None of the photos I've taken in Chongqing show the Yangtze River, but may show the Jialing River.
I feel for the driver and the rest of the passengers lost becuase of some guy's actions.
Great. Now buses will have to be equipped with a locking cockpit like airplanes.
I think a lot of City Bus Drivers would like that. I know I wouldn't want to be driving with my back to some of the Hooligans and Whackjobs that ride City Buses.
How insane do you have to be to physically attack the person driving your bus??
It's also pretty curious that no one jumped up to stop this lunatic, save the driver and everyone else.
Have you ever taken a Bus in a Major City ? If you want to see a Insane Person a City Bus is a good place to look.
With the incident now seen in a security video, here is the actual story.
The woman missed getting off at her stop. She asked the driver to stop the bus and let her out, but I know for a fact that bus drivers here are not permitted to stop between bus stops except for a real emergency, and this was not an emergency, besides that fact that it was the middle of a bridge. What she should have done, (and I had to do this a couple of times) is get off at the next stop, cross the road and get on a bus going in the opposite direction to her stop. The extra cost is the equivalent of less than 30 US cents. She started to hit the driver, and the driver took his right hand off the wheel to grab her arm/hand to stop her from hitting. He had to have turned towards her and by doing so not only took his eyes off the road but he veered into another lane and hit a car, then all control was lost and the bus veered into and broke through the guard rail, falling into the river.
I divide the fault 3 ways. The woman was primarily and mostly at fault for attacking the driver while he was driving. The driver was secondarily at fault because what he should have done is immediately stop the bus and then deal with the woman. The passengers, seeing what was happening should have grabbed the woman to stop her from attacking the driver so the lesser fault of omission rather than commission falls upon them. It was a fatal combination, due as well because of the location of the bus, being on a bridge over a deep river. Anywhere else would likely not have been so fatal.
I agree, back when I lived in the City I rode Buses all the time. I've seen Drunks and Crazies start fights with other Passengers or Drivers and other Passengers will try to stay out of it as long as it's not the Driver but if it's the Driver they act quick. Not because they care about the Driver but because if there's an accident or the Driver gets hurt the Bus ride is over and you're either walking or waiting and nothing pisses people off more than some Jerk attempting to screw up their day. Every Bus I've been on has a 2way radio and in the City the Cops are never more than a couple minutes away and the Drivers won't hesitate to call them if you give them shit and if you hit the Driver the Cops are going to bounce you off every hard surface they can.