Road safety strengthened after fatal accident in Lanzhou

Local government has strengthened road traffic control to prevent major road accidents on continuous downhill sections up to 21.5 kilometers long on the Lanzhou-Haikou expressway, according to an official statement released by the Lanzhou Public Security Bureau on Tuesday.

The regulation was issued after a major car accident that killed 15 people and injured 36 Saturday evening in Lanzhou, Northwest China's Gansu province, 50 meters from the Lanzhou South Toll Station on the expressway.

It aims to further improve traffic safety control on downhill sections of the Lanzhou-Haikou expressway, including measures such as diverting road traffic and controlling vehicle speed and distances between cars, according to the statement.

Trucks also are forbidden to drive into and overtake other cars on the accident-prone road, the statement said.

A driver, Li Feng, 45, originally from Northeast China's Liaoning province, who crashed with a tower-crane truck into a line of 31 vehicles at 7:21pm on Saturday in Lanzhou, was detained on Sunday.

Preliminary investigations found that the accident happened due to brake failure on Li's vehicle on the continuous downhill sections of the expressway. The day of the accident also was the first time Li had driven on the Lanzhou-Haikou expressway.

After the accident, local police sent more than 260 police officers to the site for rescue.

Local traffic police and district police also worked closely to rescue the 37 people originally injured, sending them to local hospitals.

One person later died.