Society

Bus plunge kills 6 people, injures 40 in N China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-07 07:30

XI'AN - Six people were killed, and 40 others injured after a bus with holiday makers overturned from a freeway in northwest China's Shaanxi province Friday, local authorities said.

The holiday makers aboard the bus were teachers and their families from Fanjiazhai Middle School in Fengxiang county, which falls under jurisdiction of Baoji city, who were en route to visiting the International Horticultural Exposition currently being held in Xi'an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi.

The accident occurred around 5:30 a.m. Friday on the freeway linking Baoji and Xi'an, both cities in Shaanxi, when the driver of the bus, with 46 people aboard altogether, reportedly swerved in an attempt to avoid hitting the isolation works in the middle of the road, said the local traffic police.

The driver and one passenger were killed on the spot. The remaining 44 people, who all suffered injuries of varying degrees, were sent to two local hospitals.

Four of the injured people died later in the hospitals after medical treatment failed. Five other injured people were said to be in serious conditions, according to hospital doctors.

Further investigation is underway.