One of the tires of the van got caught in the unfinished road when Zhou was driving in excess of the speed limit. Zhou slammed the gas pedal, causing the van to veer off the road and into the pond, police explained.

Local officials disclosed a list of casualties. A Xinhua investigation found that most of the children lived with their aging grandparents as their parents have migrated to cities for work, a situation typical across China's vast countryside.

Tong Fuliang, who was working in a factory in neighboring Zhejiang Province at the time of the accident, said he became frantic when he learned that his four-year-old son was involved in the accident.

"My legs shook so uncontrollably that I almost fell," said Tong Fuliang, adding that he and his wife rushed "like mad men" to the hospital where his son was being treated.

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