China arsonist angered by financial dispute before bus fire -Xinhua

Firefighters are seen working inside a burnt bus after a fire on a street in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, January 5, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

BEIJING (Reuters) - A man accused of causing a fire on a bus that killed 17 people and injured 33 in China last week told prosecutors that he was angered by a financial dispute with a construction contractor, the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Sunday. Police caught the suspect after mounting a manhunt in the northern region of Ningxia last week, but initially did not identify a possible motive for the arson attack. Bus fires are not uncommon in China. In 2013, a bus fire blamed on a suicidal man killed 47 people in the coastal city of Xiamen. Regulators have blamed some recent blazes on flawed auto design. (Reporting By Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)