Chinese man sets fire to moving bus, killing 17, authorities say
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A Chinese man upset over a financial dispute set fire to a moving bus and fled as the flames trapped people inside, killing 17 of them and injuring 32, authorities and state media said.
Several hours later police caught 33-year-old Ma Yongping on a construction site in Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia region, the regional government's news office said.
State media reported the suspect was upset over a financial dispute with a subcontractor on a settlement project.
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The man carried two buckets of gasoline onto the bus, ignited them with a lighter and escaped from the window on the bus driver's side, state media said.
The state broadcaster CCTV said the suspect surrendered after a four-hour standoff with police.
The fire broke out at about 7 a.m. on a moving bus, trapping many people inside. The government said firefighters put out the flames in five minutes and that eight of the injured were in critical condition.
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Several serious bus fires in recent years in China have been blamed on people who were mentally unstable or with personal vendettas.
In 2013, a fire killed 47 people on a bus in the southeastern city of Xiamen. Police concluded a resident fed up with his life set the fire in anger and killed himself in the blaze.
Last year, a 35-year-old man was executed for starting a fire on a bus in Hangzhou in July 2014 that injured 33. A court said Bao Laixu had been seeking revenge against society and because he wanted to end his own life after a relapse of tuberculosis.