Family members of the late bus driver Wu Bin carry Wu's portrait in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, June 4, 2012. Thousands of people bid farewell on Monday to the bus driver Wu Bin, who saved 24 of his passengers after being fatally injured by a piece of metal that flew through his bus's windshield. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)
China's Ministry of Transport on Monday honored a bus driver as a model worker after all 24 of his passengers walked away safely from an accident that left him with fatal injuries.
Wu Bin, a 48-year-old bus driver from the east China city of Hangzhou, was wounded in the stomach and arm when a sheet of metal flew through the windshield of the bus he was driving from Wuxi, Jiangsu province, to Hangzhou on May 29.
Despite his immense pain, Wu stopped the bus, turned on the hazard lights, applied the parking brake and advised the passengers to remain seated before he collapsed, a surveillance video shows.
Wu died of his wounds on June 1. Doctors said Wu's liver was seriously damaged and three ribs were broken.
The ministry granted Wu the honorary title of "a model driver with love for his post and dedication to his work."
All staff in the transport sector should learn from Wu's selfless deeds and improve transport safety, the ministry said.
The official honor came after many Chinese took to the Internet to show their respect for Wu, praising him as "the most beautiful driver" and urging authorities to find out how the accident happened and take care of Wu's relatives.
Local police in Wuxi are still investigating the cause of the accident.
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