Q: It is reported that a Chinese coach was caught on fire when it returned from Kyrgyzstan to China and its passengers died. Please confirm.

A: It is preliminarily learnt that a regular passenger coach, which belonged to the Xinjiang Kashi Passenger Transportation Co. Ltd., was burnt 260 kilometers away from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, when it returned from Bishkek to Kashi and about 21 passengers all died including Chinese citizens. After being informed by the Kyrgyzstan side, consular officials of the Chinese Embassy there went to the site immediately with officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan. At present, the cause of the incident and number and identity of the victims are yet to be clarified.

The Chinese side has attached great importance to it and asked through diplomatic channel Beijing time this morning the Kyrgyzstan side to investigate the truth of the incident, inform China in time of the relevant information and handle properly the relevant issues.