The government's investigation shows that the kindergarten, founded in 2004, has nine teachers and 95 students. A publicity official of Guixi maintained that the school was operating without proper licensing.

However, villagers have complained that there are few practical alternatives to unauthorized kindergartens for poor "left-behind" children.

Photos of mud-stained children's clothes, tiny shoes and school bags scattered on the bank of the pond have created a sensation online, with the public demanding that transportation safety be ensured for rural students.

Nineteen preschoolers and two adults died after the school bus they boarded -- a nine-seat van carrying 64 passengers -- collided head-on with a coal truck in Gansu Province last November.

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