A driver was sentenced to seven years in jail on Tuesday, half a year after the school bus he was driving crashed into a ditch, leaving 15 students dead and eight others injured.

The crash happened in Fengxian country in east China's Jiangsu province on Dec. 12.

Fengxian court found Hong Xu, 31, guilty of causing the crash.

The bus carrying 41 students careened into a roadside ditch after Hong tried to avoid a pedicab.