Police under probe for car accident

NANNING - Two police officers are under investigation for driving a police car into seven pedestrians and bicyclists on Tuesday in Nanning, capital of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

According to investigators with the Nanning Municipal Public Security Bureau, blood tests indicate that the driver of the car did not have alcohol in his system at the time of the incident.

Hospital sources said two of the victims were severely injured, but the injuries were not life threatening.

Investigators said the two police officers were on their way back to the Jiangnan branch of the Nanning bureau at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, when their vehicle hit the civilians on a road near Tingzi Vegetable Market.

Huang Fei, one of the victims, sustained injuries to her face and is being treated at Nanning No 2 People's Hospital.

"Where the accident happened is a bustling downtown area where I live," Huang said, "so I never thought I could be hit there, as drivers often slow down in such populated areas."

"Police have visited us victims and paid our medical bills," Huang added.

The road accident grabbed headlines in China after a netizen posted about it on Sina Weibo, saying the police car hit civilians and dragged an electric bike for over 100 meters before it stopped. The message had been forwarded and commented on nearly 10,000 times as of Wednesday.

Many netizens have questioned whether the police were drunk and whether they had attempted to flee the scene of the accident, as they did not immediately stop after hitting the pedestrians.

The police bureau's spokesman said the bureau will conduct a fair investigation of the incident and publicize the results in a timely manner.