By Mahmut Atanur
BEIJING (AA) – A Chinese court has handed the death penalty to a man convicted of setting a bus on fire in an incident that killed 18 people in January.
The state-run China Daily reported Monday that Ma Yongping, accused of using a bottle of gasoline in the attack that also injured 32 people, appealed Sunday to the Yinchuan Municipal Intermediate People's Court in northern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
Ma reportedly started the Jan. 5 blaze out of anger over a financial dispute with a contractor.
Late last month, at least seven people were taken into custody after 35 people were killed when a bus caught fire after crashing into a guardrail in central Hunan province.
The driver, who allegedly fled the vehicle and did not open a gate for passengers, was detained.