Society

70 killed in China traffic accidents in two days

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-25 10:12

BEIJING - Twelve people were killed on Monday in a head-on bus collision in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the latest in a string of deadly traffic accidents in China over the past two days, bringing the number of transport-related deaths to 70.

Another 31 passengers were injured when two buses crashed into each other in Guangxi's Hechi city.

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A preliminary investigation showed that illegal overtaking was the reason for the accident, and the responsible driver was detained pending further investigation, said Liu Nanshan from the Hechi Police Station.

Liu said one of the buses crossed the center line and thus hit the bus coming from the opposite direction.

The collision happened at 2 am on a state highway in Hechi town of Hechi city.

On Sunday, in northeast China's Liaoning province, 33 people were killed and another 24 injured when a truck travelling in the wrong direction on an expressway collided head-on with a bus.

The two vehicles instantly caught fire after the colliding.

In the nearby Heilongjiang province, a bus plunged into a river, killing at least six people and leaving 14 others missing.

The 29-seat bus, with 23 people on board, was being driven on to a ferry when it plunged into the Hulan River in Qing'an county at 3:00 pm. The bus was recovered late Sunday night. Three escaped.

Also on Sunday, 19 people were killed and 71 were injured after a passenger train carrying 568 people derailed in east China's Jiangxi province.

A probe led by the Ministry of Railways found that the 17-carriage train derailed after hitting a section of track that had been damaged by a landslide at around 2:10 am Sunday.

Rail traffic resumed on the disrupted Shanghai-Kunming line at 21:15 pm Sunday after 2,000 rescuers -- backed by a score of cranes and backhoes -- removed the wreckage, mud and rocks.