Farm Vehicle Plunges Off Bridge In Southeastern China, Killing 14

Farm vehicle plunges off bridge in southeastern China, killing 14 < br />

2012-07-25 02:55:53 GMT+7 (ICT)

NANYANG, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- A farm vehicle veered off a road in southeastern China on early Tuesday and plunged into a valley, killing at least fourteen people and injuring as many as eight others, local authorities said. The cause of the accident was not immediately known.

The accident happened at around 7:50 a.m. local time when the farming diesel tricycle veered off a stone bridge in Nanyang, a town near Ningde City in Fujian province, and plunged down into a valley. The vehicle was carrying as many as twenty-two people, officials said, but their identities were not immediately known.

"The accident caused the deaths of fourteen people and six others have been injured. They have been rushed to hospital," a spokesperson for the State Administration of Work Safety said. The state-run Xinhua news agency put the number of injured at eight, adding that two of them were in a critical condition.

The cause of the accident is still being investigated, but Chinese law prohibits farm vehicles from being used for transportation.

Roads in China are known to be among the most dangerous in the world with more than 70,000 fatalities and 300,000 injuries a year, according to the country's Public Security Ministry. Many accidents are the result of drivers violating traffic laws, fatigue, poor road conditions and overloaded vehicles.

On June 20, a total of 17 people were killed and nearly 30 others were injured when a long-distance sleeper bus plunged into a ravine in Xiapu county of Fujian province. Officials said the vehicle overturned as it was on a bridge on an expressway, after which the bus fell more than 50 meters (164 feet) into a ravine below.

Earlier that month, four young children were killed and four others were injured when a kindergarten bus caught fire on a road in Zhangyi village near the city of Puyang in Henan province, which is located in central China. The eight-seat minibus, which belonged to the Doucunji Kindergarten, was overloaded as it was carrying thirteen children in addition to the driver.

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