Suspect identified, dies in fatal China bus fire

An old man who allegedly set fire to a crowded bus to "vent personal grievances" in east China's Xiamen City Friday evening had died in the blaze, local authorities said Saturday.

Chen Shuizong, born in 1954 and a native of Xiamen, was identified as the arsonist of the fire, which claimed 47 lives and hospitalized 34 others, the information office of the city government said in a statement.

It said that an investigation and DNA evidence found that Chen was the suspect.

Xiamen police found notes in the suspect's house, which showed that Chen was unhappy and pessimistic about his life, and planned the arson to vent personal grievances.

The fire happened at about 6:20 p.m. on Friday on a BRT (bus rapid transit) bus in Xiamen in Fujian Province. It has been investigated as a "serious criminal case" as experts and police cast doubt on a technical failure being the cause of the blaze.

An investigation showed that the tires and oil tank of the bus were not damaged, and the combustion improver was gasoline while the vehicle was equipped with a diesel engine. Local police suspected the case was arson.

As of 8 p.m. Saturday, 47 people were confirmed dead and 34 others were hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University and the 174th Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Among the injured, 16 people were in critical condition, said Yao Guanhua, deputy director of the Health Department of Xiamen City.

Ninety people were on board the BRT bus, which had a designed capacity of 95, when the fire happened.

There were 15 students on board and seven of them are receiving medical treatment in hospital. Eight students remain missing, according to the Xiamen Municipal Education Bureau.

The BRT bus line in Xiamen resumed operation on Saturday morning. There will be strict safety checks of passengers' luggage by station staff.

Xiamen's BRT system, operational since August 2008, is an important means of transportation for locals, as more than 265,000 people travel daily on the network.

The fire happened during the evening rush hour, when the city's BRT buses are usually packed with commuters.

The fire followed a series of fatal accidents in China over the past month. On June 3, a blaze killed 120 and injured 77 others in a poultry plant in northeast China's Jilin Province.

On June 2, an oil tank explosion at a PetroChina outlet in the port city of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province left two people dead and another two missing. On the same day, a mine explosion killed ten people and injured 15 others in the city of Shaoyang in central China's Hunan Province.

A total of 33 people died in a blast at an explosives factory in east China's Shandong Province on May 20, while a coal mine explosion killed 28 workers in southwest China's Sichuan Province on May 11.