11 students, parents dead after school bus drives through crowd in China

Sept. 3 (UPI) -- At least 11 people died and 13 others were injured when a school bus lost control Tuesday morning and hit a small crowd of students and parents outside a school in China's eastern province of Shandong, police said.

The driver of the school bus was taken into custody but the reason why the bus lost control and hit the students and parents remained under investigation. The incident happened in the city of Tai'an where authorities said six parents and five students were killed.

Police said the bus appeared to lose control "at a T-junction" and veered into the crowd of students and parents. At least one of the injured was listed in critical condition.

Twelve others are in stable condition.

The school remained open after the incident as students resumed participating in their regular class schedule.

The crash happened just days after students around the country returned to school for a new academic year.