28 people were killed and three others injured yesterday after
their bus careened into a 100-metre-deep valley in the mountainous
Zhaotong region of Yunnan Province.
The accident was the most serious the city, nearly 400
kilometers northwest of the provincial capital of Kunming, has
witnessed in recent years, according to Zhou Bangcai, a local
government official.
31 people, including the driver, were onboard when the accident
happened in the Qiaojia County of Zhaotong. Zhou said that the bus
was not overloaded.?
Most of the victims were farmers on their way home from the town
of Qiaojia, sources said.
The injured were rushed to county hospitals.
The Qiaojia county government has set up an emergency response
team to supervise the rescue operation and on-site
investigations.
Zhou said that it is as yet unclear if drink driving or some
other violation of traffic laws was involved.
(China.org.cn, China Daily March 29, 2006)
