Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing to suspend carpool after woman killed

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has fired two executives and will suspend one of its carpooling services from Monday after a woman was raped and killed, allegedly by a driver, in eastern China.

The company received a complaint a day earlier from another passenger about the same driver. That passenger had complained the driver repeatedly asked her to sit in front, drove them to a remote spot and followed her after she got out of the car, Didi said.

"We did not carry out an investigation into this complaint in a timely way," the company said.

The killing of the female passenger on Friday was the latest violent crime involving a Didi driver, coming just three months after another Didi driver allegedly killed a flight attendant.

Around 30 million rides a day are booked through the company, it says.

Police in the city of Yueqing in Zhejiang province said they arrested a Didi driver who admitted raping and killing the 20-year-old woman on Friday.

The company has apologised, saying it has "inescapable responsibility" for the incident.

Police said the woman texted her friends asking for help after getting into the car.

Didi will halt its "Hitch" carpool service from Monday, one of several ride-hailing options on its platform.