Freeway accident kills four, injures 39 in S. China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-02 10:16

GUANGZHOU -- Four passengers were killed and 39 others injured early Sunday after a bus traveling south on Beijing-Zhuhai Freeway broke through a guardrail and fell off a cliff.

Traffic police in Shaoguan City, south China's Guangdong Province, said the bus carried 43 passengers. It set off from Nanyang, a city in central China's Henan Province, at 10 am Saturday headed for Dongguan in Guangdong.

All the passengers were residents from Zhenping County in Nanyang City.

The accident happened around 3:46 am Sunday when the driver attempted to avoid hitting an unidentified object in front of the bus.

The bus plunged halfway down a 50 meter high cliff. It was stopped by part of a bridge support pole.

Two women and two men were killed instantly. The remaining passengers were injured, five seriously. They were taken to the hospital and were expected to survive.

One injured passenger, Hou Jiangbo, 24, was taking the bus from his hometown in Henan together with his wife and two other friends.

"We were all asleep when the accident took place, but woke up when the bus rolled over," Hou recalled. "Both my wife and I were resting on the reclined seats when the bus landed on a slope."

"Outside was pitch dark and it was raining lightly and very cold. I felt horrible, so I called for my wife loudly and soon discovered her lying about three meters away from me. I crawled over toward her and alarmed the police," said Hou.

The bus driver, whose name was not immediately known, escaped the accident uninjured. He was put under police custody. An investigation is underway.