At 7.05am on September 15, police received a report that a public bus in Longhua New District was on fire. Photos showed alarming amounts of thick black smoke emerging as the flames rapidly consumed the vehicle. After they extinguished the fire, police found the body of one 33-year-old woman inside. How she came to be there, and the cause of the fire, however, at first remained mysterious.
Investigators have now discovered the fire was an act of arson. A report released by the Longhua police says that the deceased woman, whose last name is Wang, was emotionally unstable. She spread gasoline over the vehicle on purpose, then set the whole thing on fire.
The smoke and flames were visible from a distance.
On the morning of the 15th, it turns out, Wang got onboard bus 612 with a suitcase. As the bus approached the intersection of Dongguan Lu and Gongye Lu, Wang opened up her luggage and brought out gasoline, then proceeded to pour some out and light it.
The bus driver quickly opened the door so the people inside could escape. He and one of the passengers then tried to use a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, but Wang just splashed more gasoline around.
As the fire grew out of control, both the driver and passenger had little choice but to evacuate the bus. Wang stayed inside. The driver made an emergency call to local police, who arrived quickly and put out the fire less than 20 minutes later. Within that short time, however, Wang had died, and the body of the bus was also wrecked.
In the aftermath of the fire, police cordoned off the area so workers could clean it up.
Officials and police alike are still looking into the incident.
[Images via Shenzhen Traffic Police, Southern Metropolis Daily]
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