Death toll rises to 21 after deadly bus-truck crash in Yunnan

Source: Xinhua  |   2009-4-26  |     ONLINE EDITION

TWO out of the 22 people injured in fatal bus accident yesterday in southwest China's Yunnan Province have died at the hospital this morning, bringing the death toll to 21, according to local authorities.

Currently, 20 injured people are being treated in hospital, all of whom were out of critical condition, said a spokesman for the government of the Yunnan Province.

A truck carrying watermelons collided with the rear of a domestic tourist bus on an expressway in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture at about 6:40am yesterday. Both vehicles veered off the road.

Fourteen people on the bus and two on the truck were killed instantly and two more bus passengers died en route to hospital. Three died in hospital.

The accident led to traffic congestion on the expressway that links Kunming with Chuxiong. The traffic returned to normal by late afternoon.

Tourists on board the bus were mainly from Beijing, Shanxi and Hunan provinces, a traffic police officer told Xinhua.