18 killed when minibus hits parked semi-trailer in northern China

18 killed when minibus hits parked semi-trailer in northern China

2011-08-28 18:30:47 GMT+7 (ICT)

SHIJIAZHUANG, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- Eighteen people were killed on early Sunday morning when a minibus carrying migrant workers rear-ended a semi-trailer in northern China, police said.

The accident happened at around 5 a.m. local time when the minibus struck a semi-trailer which had been parked alongside a road in Shangyi County, not far from the city of Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province. A total of 34 migrant workers were on board.

Officials said eighteen people were confirmed dead at the scene and at the hospital, while 16 others were taken to area hospitals for treatment. Some of the injured were in a critical condition.

Roads in China are known to be among the most dangerous in the world with more than 70,000 fatalities in 2009 alone. Many accidents are the result of drivers violating traffic laws, bad road conditions and overloaded vehicles.

Last month, 41 people were killed when an overcrowded double-decker bus caught fire on the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway in Xinyang City of Henan Province. It followed a deadly road accident several weeks earlier, in Hubei province, when 26 people were killed.

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