Victims' families compensated following kindergarten bus accident

A kindergarten bus is hauled out of a pond at the mountainous Ganzi Village in the Yuelu District of Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, July 11, 2014. [Photo: Xinhua/Bai Yu]

Families of 10 victims, including eight children, have received compensation after an overloaded minivan used as a school bus fell into a reservoir Thursday, authorities said Monday.

The accident occurred at about 5pm in Ganzi Village near Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, when the minivan was carrying children from Lelewang Kindergarten in the city of Xiangtan, adjacent to Changsha. In addition to the children, the driver and two teachers, who were between the ages of 18 and 51, were also killed.

The families of the child victims have been paid 560,000 yuan (89,656 US dollars) each and the families of the teachers killed have been paid 680,000 yuan, according to a Xiangtan government spokesman.

As police are still investigating whether the driver's operations were related to the accident, compensation for the driver's family has not been decided yet, said the spokesman.

The minivan, with a designed capacity of eight, left the school with fifteen people aboard. Four children got off at previous stops.