A traffic accident killed at least eight people and seriously
injured two others on Saturday morning in Zhuxi County, central
China's Hubei Province, sources with the local
government said.
The accident occurred at about 7:30 AM on Saturday when a
mini-sized station wagon carrying 10 people, including the driver
and 9 students from a local middle school, lost control at a turn
on the mountain highway and fell off a 124-meter cliff into a
river.
The driver and a student were killed on the spot, and six others
died later either during the rescue operation or in hospital. The
other two severely injured are still under emergency treatment in
hospital, the government sources said.
Local government officials rushed to the accident site to
organize the rescue efforts, and the cause of the accident is under
investigation.
(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2006)