27 killed and 23 injured after truck collides in China

A truck crashed into a minivan and a passenger bus in northwest China after its brakes failed, killing at least 27 people and injuring 23 others, the government said.

Photo: 27 killed and 23 injured after truck collides in China

27 killed and 23 injured after truck collides in China

The accident occurred Monday afternoon near Tianshui, a city in Gansu province, when the truck loaded with bicycle wheels collided with the minivan and then the bus, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Seven people, including the truck driver, were killed on the spot and 20 died after medical treatment failed, Xinhua said. The cause of the accident was under investigation.

China's roads are among the world's deadliest with reckless driving, poor conditions and overloading of vehicles causing most of the accidents.

The World Health Organization says the country averages about 100,000 road accident deaths per year, about 15 percent of the world's total.

Xinhua quoted Wu Heping, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, as saying Tuesday in the first three months of this year 20,691 people died in 98,000 traffic accidents, a decrease of 8.5 percent deaths from the same period last year, and an 11.3 percent drop in accidents, reports the AP.

I.L.