China road accident kills 23—state media

BEIJING—Twenty-three people were killed and nearly 30 others injured in central China on Monday when a long-distance bus flipped over and caught fire after being shunted by a truck, state media reported.

The accident occurred in the pre-dawn hours along an expressway in Hubei province, the Xinhua news agency said.

After being hit, the bus veered off the highway, flipped over and ended up in flames, it said, adding that the injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. The truck also crashed through the guardrails and caught fire.

Initially 26 people were believed killed, but police later revised the death toll down to 23, saying it had been difficult to identify the remains as some of the victims had suffered severe burns, the agency said.

The number of injured was also revised down from 31 to 29, three of them in critical condition.

Police were investigating the cause of the accident. A preliminary probe revealed the incident may have been caused by “illegal roadside parking” by the bus and “drowsy driving” by the truck driver, Xinhua said.

China’s roads are among the world’s most dangerous, with traffic laws and safety widely flouted.

Almost 70,000 people died in road accidents in 2009 – around 190 fatalities a day – according to police statistics.