4 officials dismissed for fatal kindergarten bus accident

Four local officials in central China's Hunan province have been removed from their posts over a fatal kindergarten bus accident that killed 11 people, including eight children last week, local authorities announced Thursday.

The four include Yuan Dianfan, deputy director of the Yuhu District in Xiangtan City, Qu Zhihui, deputy director of the district's education bureau, and an official with the district's traffic police brigade, where the accident happened, according to the city government.

Further investigation into the accident is under way.

The tragedy occurred at about 5pm on July 10 in Ganzi Village near Changsha, capital of Hunan, when an overloaded minivan carrying eight children home from a kindergarten in Yuhu District in the city of Xiangtan fell into a reservoir. The driver and two teachers aboard the bus were also killed in the accident.