13-year-old drives bus damaging 12 cars in Beijing

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Chinese media) -- "It was like watching a blockbuster movie when

I saw the bus crashing into cars like a bulldozer," said a man surnamed Liu as

he described a traffic accident in Laiguangying Township, Chaoyang District in

Beijing.

It happened at about 9 a.m. Sunday, when city bus No. 404 zigzagged and hit

a car and a minibus in traffic. When the owner of the car tried to talk to the

bus driver, the bus reversed and crashed into 10 parked vehicles and knocked

down two electricity poles, the Beijing Public Security Bureau said.

Liu was having breakfast at his shoe-repair stand by the parked cars when

he saw the bus coming towards him like a "dancing dragon". "I threw my canteen

and ran for my life," he said.

One of those parked cars was pushed through the front door of a clinic.

"The door glass suddenly cracked into pieces --- I thought it was an

earthquake," said a doctor. No one was injured.

Eventually, three people kicked the bus's door open and were able to

control the driver, who to their surprise was a 13-year-old boy.

"He was thin, and was about 165cm tall, trembling without a word," said a

man surnamed Chen, who helped stop the bus.

According to Beijing Public Transport Holdings, Ltd., the owner of the bus,

their driver was in the bathroom at a terminal. When he came out the bus was

gone. The company believes the boy started it without the keys.

Police are still trying to get in touch with the boy's guardians.

A similar case happened in Beijing on Dec. 12, 2008, when a 13-year-old

middle school boy stole a No. 384 bus at a terminal in Haidian district. The

police stopped the bus 10 kilometers away from where it was stolen two hours

later.