SHANGHAI — The driver of a minivan hauling gas canisters set fire to his vehicle while smoking a cigarette Friday, plowing into pedestrians and bursting into flames, leaving 18 people injured in the heart of the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai. The 40-year-old minivan driver, whom police identified only by his surname Chen, lost control after a fire erupted in his van, which held several plastic bottles of gasoline as well as six canisters of liquid gas. A cigarette butt found by investigators in the van likely started the fire, Shanghai police said in a statement Friday evening. Chen works for a Shanghai metals company and had no criminal record but is now under suspicion for transporting dangerous materials. Friday’s crash occurred just as the British prime minister was speaking at a business event in Shanghai.

Source: National Post February 02, 2018 03:54 UTC