Eight people including several children died when a kindergarten director lost control of an SUV. The SUV was plunged into a pond in the southeast region of China on Wednesday, as reported by the state media.
The crash occurred on a sloppy downhill section of the road which was a bit slippery caused by the recent rainfall in the region, according to New Security, a publication under the state-run People's Daily Press.
The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon and was reported on Wednesday in Pengze county, a rural area 480 kilometres (300 miles) west of Shanghai dotted with small bodies of water and interlacing streams.
The SUV was used to carry children attending a private kindergarten in the area. It was a seven-seater which was a privately owned vehicle, the report said.
"Several children from the kindergarten were in the vehicle at the time of the accident," it said, citing local officials as quoted by AFP.
A previous statement published overnight by county security authorities confirmed that eight people had died including the driver, identified as a 49-year-old woman surnamed Luo.
One local villager said that his friend's four-year-old child was among the victims, according to the New Security report.
The statement gave no information on the other victims but said an investigation was ongoing.
