23 punished over fatal minibus accident

Twenty-three people have been punished for a minibus accident that left 11 dead in March in southwest China's Sichuan province, the provincial safety watchdog said Thursday.

The minibus driver has received a jail term of five years for causing the traffic accident, and a business owner who illegally repaired the vehicle will be prosecuted over charges of negligently causing a serious accident, said the investigation report released by the work safety supervision and management bureau of Sichuan Province.

The others, including Party secretary of Yilong County, officials in charge of transportation of the county and managers of the transportation company, received penalties of written self-criticism, disciplinary warning, post demotion and fines ranging from 50,000 yuan ($8,005 ) to 80,000 yuan, said the report.

The transportation company, Sichuan Nanchong Automobile Transportation Group, was fined 600,000 yuan.

On March 6, a 16-seat minibus carrying 12 people crashed through the barriers on a bridge in Yilong County of Nanchong City and fell into a lake. The driver was the only survivor in the accident.