The arsonist who set a public bus on fire in January killing a total of 17 and injuring 32 persons has been arrested, detained and arraigned in court today.
The suspected arsonist set a bus on fire in northwest China after he failed to resolve a financial dispute with a construction contractor. The massacre of innocent bus passengers had nothing to do with his financial problems against the said contractor.
China has recorded a large number of similar bus fires in recent years. Reasons behind these unnecessary killings has not been ascertained. Whereas some have been blamed on overloading and improper handling of hazardous materials, many others have been deliberate acts of arson carried out by “mentally unstable” people and those seeking revenge against society.
In 2013, a mass murder-suicide killed 47 people on a bus in Xiamen, Fujian province. Family members of the suspect, Chen Shuizong, claimed he was angry with police officials whose refusal to correct an error on his identity documents which resulted in him being denied social security benefits.
