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Bus caught fire on stack of straw

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Authorities in Central China's Henan province said the school bus that caught fire on Monday had become stuck on a pile of straw before it was engulfed in flames that killed four children on board.

The bus driver could not move the vehicle after it got stuck on a 70-cm-high pile of straw on a lane in Zhangyi village of Puyang, the city government's information office said in a statement on Wednesday.

The bus, which was taking children home after school late Monday afternoon, caught fire as the driver was trying to clear the road of straw, it said.

Investigators said the overheated catalytic converter and muffler set the straw on fire.

The eight-seat minibus was carrying 13 children at the time of the accident.

Four children died at the scene and three were injured. The bus driver and one of the preschoolers were seriously injured.

The minibus belongs to Doucunji Kindergarten, the statement said, adding that the kindergarten's executive manager, Chu Lili, is under police control.

It said the kindergarten was unlicensed and its school bus, which was purchased in December 2010, had been illegally renovated to run on natural gas.

Puyang's traffic police and education authorities had ordered the bus to halt service in a safety overhaul last year, but the bus continued to operate despite the order.