China suspends officials after 11 kids die in road wreck

BEIJING (AFP) - A city in east China suspended 12 officials on Wednesday, including a vice-mayor, policemen and education administrators, after 11 children were killed in a road wreck involving an overloaded vehicle.

The Monday accident occurred in Guixi city, Jiangxi province when the overloaded mini-van plunged into a pond as it was transporting the four- to six-year-old children to kindergarten.

Kindergarten principal Zhou Chune, who was driving the van, and four other children survived the accident. Zhou has been taken into police custody, the Guixi city government said on its website.

The city further announced that 12 officials, including a vice-mayor, several traffic police officials and numerous Guixi school administrators had been suspended from work pending an investigation into the accident.