China bus plunge kills 8 children, 9 critical

BEIJING, Nov 21 (Reuters) Eight children were killed and nine were critically injured when an unlicensed primary school bus plunged off a bridge in northern China this morning news agency said.

The accident happened in Shuangcheng, 50 km (30 miles) from Harbin, capital of the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

''An initial investigation showed the owner of the bus did not have a licence to operate a school shuttle bus service,'' Xinhua said.

Heavy fog has enveloped parts of northern China this week, but Xinhua did not say if this was a factor.

REUTERS SB VA RAI1214