Unlicenced van off into valley, 7 dead

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-15 20:18

XINING -- Investigation showed that a traffic accident in which seven people died and another three were injured in northwest China's landlocked Qinghai Province had been caused by overloading and that the driver had no licence, local police said on Sunday.

A passenger van with ten onboard skidded off a hillside road and plunged 860-meters into a valley on Friday in Chengduo County in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu.

An initial investigation showed that the accident had been caused by overloading and that the driver had no licence, said Sun Zhengyou, a senior police officer with Qinghai Provincial Public Security Department.

The maximum number the van was allowed to carry was eight, he said.

All the passengers onboard, including Bading, the 27-year-old driver, were Tibetan herdsmen. They were heading for a local temple when the accident happened.

The three injured, who are receiving medical treatment in a local hospital, are out of danger, Sun said.