A bus transporting residents to a Covid-19 quarantine facility in China has crashed, killing 27 of those on board. The coach overturned on a motorway in the south-western province of Guizhou. Another 20 people were injured. Only two people have died from Covid in Guizhou province since the pandemic struck almost three years ago.
The accident sparked anger online from those critical of Beijing’s “zero-Covid” policy. The strict policy involves mass testing and tracking. Those who test positive and their close contacts have to isolate at home or in a quarantine facility. Just a handful of cases can spark a city-wide lockdown.
There is no word on the cause of the crash which occurred early on Sunday morning.
According to Chinese regulations, passenger buses are not allowed to drive on the highway between the hours of 02:00 and 05:00. However, the accident occurred at 02:40 local time Sunday (18:40 GMT Saturday) after the bus departed shortly after midnight, indicating the bus had violated regulation. A woman who claimed she was the daughter of one of the victims took to social media, where she wrote a note saying she could “not accept” her mother’s death.