A fight between a female passenger and a bus driver in the city of Chongqing, southwestern China, made the driver lose control of the vehicle and plunge into a river.
The accident was fatal: EuroNews reports that all 15 people on board the bus were killed, including the driver. Authorities have released footage of the accident, as recovered from the bus’ black box. They also made public footage presented to them by another driver, who had a dashcam on and was traveling from the opposite direction.
The former video shows the driver and a woman in the middle of a heavy verbal and physical altercation. Reports in the local media cited by EuroNews say that the woman missed her bus stop and, when she realized it, immediately asked the driver to pull over so she could get off.
The driver refused, as was to be expected. This made the woman angry, so she advanced to the front of the bus and began yelling at him. At one point, she took out her phone and started hitting him on the head with it. The video shows the driver engaging with her and even reaching out his hand to hit her, too. That’s when he lost control of the vehicle.
The second video shows the moment the bus swerved on the bridge, getting out of its lane and into oncoming traffic. Before hitting the rails, it smashed into a car, and then plunged into the river. It doesn’t look as if the driver had time even to hit the brakes before the bus went off the bridge.
As of now, authorities have recovered only 13 of the bodies of those on the vehicle and the search for the other 2 is still ongoing.
The tragedy could have been prevented if the woman had stayed in her seat and not bothered the driver. There’s a reason why most public transport vehicles have stickers urging passengers not to talk or otherwise engage with the driver, and it’s because it can lead to accidents such as this.
The former video shows the driver and a woman in the middle of a heavy verbal and physical altercation. Reports in the local media cited by EuroNews say that the woman missed her bus stop and, when she realized it, immediately asked the driver to pull over so she could get off.
The driver refused, as was to be expected. This made the woman angry, so she advanced to the front of the bus and began yelling at him. At one point, she took out her phone and started hitting him on the head with it. The video shows the driver engaging with her and even reaching out his hand to hit her, too. That’s when he lost control of the vehicle.
The second video shows the moment the bus swerved on the bridge, getting out of its lane and into oncoming traffic. Before hitting the rails, it smashed into a car, and then plunged into the river. It doesn’t look as if the driver had time even to hit the brakes before the bus went off the bridge.
As of now, authorities have recovered only 13 of the bodies of those on the vehicle and the search for the other 2 is still ongoing.
The tragedy could have been prevented if the woman had stayed in her seat and not bothered the driver. There’s a reason why most public transport vehicles have stickers urging passengers not to talk or otherwise engage with the driver, and it’s because it can lead to accidents such as this.