Detainees die in China bus blast

By CNN's Patricia Lai

HONGKONG, China -- Tightly closed doors and windows contributed to the killing of all 25 people in a bus explosion on the Shenzhen-Shantou highway in China.

The bus driver, 22 detainees from the Haifeng detention center and two public security officers were unable to escape the fire scene when one security officer set off a self-made bomb on Monday.

"We believe many of them were not killed by the explosion. They might have saved their own lives had they been able to flee the fire scene," says the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy's Frank Lu.

The official Xinhua news agency reported that the tragedy happened when the bus was on its way to Guangzhou. But it had not mentioned 22 victims were detainees.

Guangdong officials were reported to have rushed to the scene to investigate. But the Guangdong police office has not disclosed any information.

It is believed that families of the victims have not been notified yet.

Frank Lu told CNN that they are investigating whether the police handcuffed the detainees in order to make it difficult for them to escape during the transfer.

"China has just released the human rights white paper, boasting its big improvement in people's living standard and human rights. But in this case, people's basic rights to safety and subsistence are not guaranteed," he said.

The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy is still investigating the accident but said it is not known why the public security officer set off the suicide bomb.

China human rights self-assessment too "rosy"
April 12, 2001

Xinhua
China Foreign Ministry

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