26 Dec 2012

Schoolchildren rammed

5:50 am on 26 December 2012

State media in China say a man rammed his car into a group of schoolchildren, injuring 13.

The man reportedly tried to cause an explosion by packing his car with firecrackers and a gas tank.

Jinghua Times said the students, in the northern province of Hebei, were leaving school for a lunch break when the car hit them.

Three were seriously hurt and 10 others were treated for minor injuries.

Xinhua news agency named the man as Yin Tiejun, 48, and said his daughter had been murdered three years ago. But not all her killers were sent to prison.

Police said he had tried to set his car on fire with a bottle of diesel after crashing into the children. But he denied the firecrackers and gas tank were meant to cause an explosion.

The incident, at Fengning middle school, happened on Monday but was not reported until Tuesday.