Three in critical condition after deadly bus-truck crash in SW China

KUNMING, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Three out of the 22 injured people have been
in critical condition, following a bus-truck crash which killed 19 on Saturday
in southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authorities said Sunday.

Currently, 22 injured people are being treated in hospital, of whom three
remain in critical condition, said a spokesman for the government of the
Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

A medical expert team was established to rescue the injured.

A truck that carried watermelon bumped into the back of a domestic tourist
bus on an expressway in Chuxiong at about 6:40 a.m., and both fell off the road.

Fourteen people on the bus and two on the truck were killed instantly and
two more bus passengers died en route to hospital. One died in hospital.

The accident led to a traffic congestion on the expressway that links
Kunming with Chuxiong. The traffic returned to normal late afternoon.

Tourists on board the bus were mainly from Beijing, Shanxi and Hunan
provinces, a traffic police officer told Xinhua.

Death toll rises to 19 from China
bus-truck crash

Photo taken on April 25, 2009 shows the
scene of an accident on the Kunchu Expressway in Chuxiong Prefecture,
southwest China's Yunnan Province. A tourist bus collided with a truck
carrying watermelon on the expressway in Chuxiong Prefecture early
Saturday, leaving 18 people dead and 22 others injured. (Xinhua/Chen
Haining)
Photo
Gallery

KUNMING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The death toll has
risen to 19 from a traffic collision in southwest China's Yunnan Province after
an injured person died in hospital, local authorities said Saturday.

Currently, 21 injured people are being treated in
hospital, of whom three are in critical condition, said a spokesman for the
government of the Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong. Full story