27 killed, 20 injured as bus carrying people to COVID quarantine centre crashes in China
Beijing, Sep 18: At least 27 people were killed and 20 others injured when a passenger bus transporting them to a coronavirus quarantine centre crashed in China's Guizhou province on Sunday, prompting online criticism of Beijing's zero-COVID policy.
The official media reported that the bus overturned on a highway in Guizhou province but there was no mention that the vehicle was transporting people to the quarantine centre.
Later reports emerged on social media that the bus was transporting contacts of COVID-positive patients from Guiyang, but the comments were soon censored, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Unconfirmed photos posted online showed everyone on the vehicle, including the driver, wearing white hazmat suits and goggles.
Local Guizhou Daily confirmed on Sunday that the coach was transporting people affected by COVID-19 outbreak controls .
Under China's dynamic zero COVID-19 policy, all contacts of coronavirus patients are required to go under quarantine at a government centre.
The accident prompted criticism online about the aggressive control measures China is using to try to contain COVID-19 cases.
What will the government say to people? a user of the Chinese social media Weibo akin to Twitter said.
COVID didn't kill people, instead, they were killed on the way to be quarantined. That is really ridiculous, the user said.
This is the biggest tragedy resulting from unscientific COVID control measures, another Weibo user said, according to the Post report.
Guiyang, a city of nearly six million people, went into a snap lockdown at the start of the month and many residents have been struggling to get enough food.
Wang Jie, a Guiyang official in charge of the quarantine transfers, said on Saturday that many of the thousands of people believed to have been exposed to the virus had been transferred to quarantine centres.
Because of the limited capacity in the city, some of those affected were taken to centres outside Guiyang, he said in a media conference about the outbreak.
As of Saturday, 7,396 people had been transferred out of town, with another 2,900 people on their way, Wang said.
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
