At least 24 people were killed and nine others
injured in a collision on an expressway northwest of?Beijing
Sunday evening, the municipal public security bureau said
today.
The accident took place at about 8 PM yesterday
when a calcium carbide-loaded truck from north China's Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region crashed with a Beijing passenger bus due
to brake failure at a section of the Badaling Expressway in
Changping District.
The two vehicles overturned and fell into a
20-meter-deep ditch and caught fire, killing 24 on the spot.
One person was injured seriously and eight others
suffered minor injuries.
Officials, traffic police, firefighting teams and
medical staff rushed to the site of the tragedy and further
investigations into its cause are underway.
(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2005)