The families of the eight students killed in a bus accident in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have received a total 1.6 million yuan (US$ 203,000) in compensation.

A minibus lies in the frozen river after the unlicensed school bus plunged off a bridge and into a river in Shuangcheng, Heilongjiang Province November 21, 2006. Eight students were killed and nine were critically injured in the accident.  An initial investigation showed the owner of the bus did not have a licence to operate a school shuttle bus service.

Thirty-nine other people were injured when the bus carrying 50 students veered off a bridge and plunged in a shallow freezing river on Tuesday morning in Zhoujia township, Shuangcheng City, 50 kilometers from the provincial capital of Harbin.

The compensation was paid by the driver, insurance company and local government, according to the Shuangcheng city government.

All the injured, including seven who were in critical condition, are now stable, said doctors at the No. 242 Hospital in Harbin. The survivors have received psychological counseling.

Six months ago, local residents rented the bus to commute their children to school each day. They paid 200 yuan (US$ 25 U.S.) per school term.

An initial investigation showed the owner of the bus had no license to operate a school bus service.

Police have detained Guan Jingquan, the driver. They claim he was not licensed to drive a bus, holding only a type-B driver's license for trucks. Bus drivers require type-A license.

Overloading and speeding are suspected the causes of the accident. Police said the bus, which was designed to carry 26 people, had 52 passengers.

The Harbin city government, which administers Shuangcheng, has launched a city-wide crackdown on unlicensed school buses, overloading and speeding. It also plans to raise safety awareness among drivers.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, traffic accidents killed 98,738 people in China last year, and 73,955 in the first 10 months of this year.

(Xinhua News Agency November 24, 2006)