China extends assistance to Korea over bus accident killing 10 kids

By a2017001

Published : May 10, 2017 - 12:13 Updated : May 10, 2017 - 12:13

The Chinese foreign ministry has offered to help South Korea deal with the aftermath of a deadly car accident in China which killed 10 Korean kindergarteners and two other Chinese people, the foreign ministry here said Wednesday.

The school bus carrying 11 kindergarteners and a Chinese driver caught fire in a car accident inside the Taojiakuang Tunnel in Weihai, a city in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, at around 9 a.m. (local time) on Tuesday.

The parents of the students are currently trying to identify their children with DNA tests.

This photo shows a bus gutted by fire inside the Taojiakuang Tunnet in Shandong province, China, Tuesday. (Yonhap)

Later Tuesday, Kong Xuanyou, assistant minister at the Chinese foreign ministry, telephoned South Korea's top envoy to China Kim Jang-soo and offered the government's support in dealing with the accident, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul said.

"China's (governing) party and government leaders are taking the accident very seriously," The Chinese assistance minister was quoted as telling Kim during the conversation.

He also said the government has ordered the regional Chinese governments near the accident scene to handle the aftermath of the accident "speedily and smoothly," according to the South Korean ministry.

Separately on Tuesday, South Korea's Consul General based in Qingdao Lee Soo-john also talked to Sun Licheng, vice governor of Shandong Province, over the phone to request China's support in handling the accident, the ministry said.

During the talks, Sun Licheng quoted President Xi Jinping as instructing a speedy investigation into the case of the accident and smooth handling and unveiled the launch of a Chinese task force in charge of carrying out the order. (Yonhap)