Quick Take: Dozens of Officials, Executives Punished for Deadly Bus Crash

Scores of government officials and executives of state-owned companies in China are under investigation or have received punishments in connection with a deadly bus crash in August that killed 36 and injured 13.

A report into the incident underscored the inadequate oversight of the bus operator as well as poor road safety.

Investigators blamed speeding and driver fatigue for the collision into a wall at a tunnel in China’s northwest Shaanxi province.

The long-haul bus was en route from Chengdu to Luoyang, in central China’s Henan province, before it skid off the road and slammed into a wall along a section of the Beijing-Kunming Expressway in Shaanxi.

Twenty-eight people are under investigation for criminal offences. Of those, 15 were being investigated for dereliction of duty, including Li Haitao, head of a unit of the Luoyang Transportation Group, which operated the bus service.

Another 32 people were being disciplined — including officials and executives of state-owned companies in Henan, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces — for workplace or transport-oversight related offenses.

A vice mayor of Luoyang, Zhang Shimin, who oversees work safety in the city, was among those being disciplined.

The report does not spell out the disciplinary punishment for each person, but it could include demotions, as well as “demerit points” and warnings that could affect future promotions.

Contact reporter Li Rongde (rongdeli@caixin.com)