Flying metal injures tour conductor

A tour conductor was hit by a chunk of iron that flew through the windshield of a tour bus carrying 40 tourists on the Ningbo-Jinhua Expressway in East China's Zhejiang province, Qianjiang Evening News reported on Sunday.

The tour conductor, surnamed Qian, suffered fractures to her clavicle and at least one of her ribs, as well as liver injuries. Although her vital signs were stable on Sunday afternoon, a doctor said she should be closely observed during the next 48 hours, report said.

According to tourists on the bus, the chuck of iron that hit her weighs about two kilograms and is about five to six centimeters in diameter. It went through the bus' windshield at 7:50 am after the bus had overtaken a van, said the report.

A staff member at a repair plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, told the paper that the cylindrical piece of iron was not a part of a vehicle but instead a jack component. The cause of the accident is still being investigated.

Two months ago, Wu Bin, a bus driver from Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, died from injuries he suffered after a piece of sheet metal had flown through the windshield of a bus he was driving from Wuxi, Jiangsu province, to Hangzhou, according to a previous report.

zhiyun@chinadaily.com.cn