Three people stood trial on Thursday over suspected abuse of power that may partly have led to a fatal bus accident in northwestern China's Shaanxi province that claimed 35 lives in May.

The three defendants, all staff at the transportation management station of Lintong district in Xi'an, found that the bus lacked a transport business license more than 20 days before the accident happened, the prosecutor said.

However, they didn't stop it from operating, nor did they seize the vehicle after a colleague intervened on behalf of the driver. They only fined the driver 3,000 yuan ($470).