27 dead in China after bus taking people to COVID-19 quarantine facility crashes

A bus carrying people to a COVID-19 quarantine facility crashed in the Chinese province of Guizhou resulting in 27 deaths on Sunday. This has come as a major shock forGuizhouwhich has lost two lives in the entire COVID-19 pandemic and users on social media were quick to criticise their government.

The Chinese authorities confirmed that the accident occurred around 2:40 AM local time and the bus was “transporting people linked to the epidemic to quarantine” from the provincial capital of Guiyang.

“At present, on-site rescue work is basically completed, the treatment of the injured and aftercare of the deceased are being carried out in an orderly manner, and the cause of the accident is under investigation,” the local government said on social media according to The Guardian.

The governor of Guizhou and the local Communist party chief both visited the site of the accident, according to the local government, and they also expressed their condolences to the victims.

“It is necessary to draw a lesson from the accident, examine the quarantine and transportation of epidemic-linked personnel and hidden dangers in traffic safety ... [and] resolutely curb the occurrence of major accidents,” the official statement from the local government read according to Reuters.

However, the authorities did not confirm if the people on the bus were already infected or came in close contact with any patient. The province of Guizhou recorded 712 new cases on Saturday which accounted for around 70 per cent of all cases in the country – a huge jump from last month.