12 dead in highway inferno

SHIJIAZHUANG - Twelve people were killed and 15 others were injured after a crash triggered by two trucks in Hebei province on Tuesday morning.

The crash happened at around 6:20 am when an oil tanker rear-ended a coal truck in a tunnel on the highway linking the cities of Zhangjiakou and Shijiazhuang, according to the Laiyuan county government.

A subsequent explosion and fire engulfed the scene. Twelve people died as a direct result of the crash, and 12 residents were injured when their homes caught fire. Nine vehicles were damaged.