Nine dead in NW China van crash

LANZHOU - The death toll from a van crash in Northwest China's Gansu province on Monday morning has risen to nine after four injured passengers died in hospital, traffic police have confirmed.

The dead include a two-month-old baby. The van, carrying 12 people, slid off an icy road and fell down a hillside in Wushan County, Tianshui City, at around 11 am, police said.

Five people in the vehicle died on the scene. Three others are being treated in hospital.

Police said the van was overloaded as it should have been carrying no more than seven people.