A worker from the public transport authority of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, checks the emergency equipment on a bus on Tuesday. [Photo: Xinhua]

Two days after living through a fatal nightmare, Liu Kai still remembers clearly how he was forced to push an elderly man off a burning bus.

At that critical moment, Liu and many of the more than two dozen passengers searched fruitlessly for safety hammers inside the bus only to be forced to break windows with whatever they could, as others thronged to the doors to escape.

But the delay and subsequent chaos killed three and injured 12.

Following the tragedy, checks for hidden dangers on buses is being carried out across the country, the findings of which have been surprising.

Safety hammers are compulsory on air-conditioned vehicles, as required by the public transportation authority, and should always be hung next to sealed windows.

There should be at least four such safety tools on each bus, but the safety survey has revealed this is not the case, making many vehicles death traps in the event doors are jammed shut during emergencies.

"Hammers are often stolen," a press officer surnamed Huang at municipal transportation bureau, said, adding that bus companies often fail to replace them.

"Lack of auto escape tools is common if the bus is used for sometime," a Shanghai driver, who declined to be named, told China Daily yesterday.

Some drivers simply put the tools under their seats to prevent them from being stolen.

Companies say they are reluctant to replace the hammers because of repetitive costs, while drivers and conductors, who can be fined by companies for missing safety implements, are reluctant to report cases knowing little will be done.

But the latest tragedy has drawn great attention to potential hazards and bus companies across the country are now taking measures to eliminate glitches, as well as urging commuters not to carry banned materials.

In Shanghai, transportation authorities held emergency meetings in which improved safety requirements, including making hammers compulsory, were drafted, according to some bus management firms.

A full-scale overhaul of bus safety is now in the works and inspection of passengers carrying suspect materials will be stepped up.

A bus group in Chengdu, Sichuan province, alerted all bus enterprises on Tuesday of potential safety hazards, demanding each vehicle promptly install safety tools and start a week- long inspection.

(China Daily May 8, 2008)