Fourteen individuals passed away and 37 others were wounded after a bus collided inside a fast road tunnel in northern China, as indicated by state media on Wednesday.
The incident happened shortly after 2:30 pm local time (0630 GMT) on Tuesday, as reported by state broadcaster CCTV, citing local authorities in Shanxi province.
The bus, which had 51 people on board, crashed into the wall inside the tunnel, the report said.
State news agency Xinhua confirmed the number of people killed and injured in a separate report, but did not provide specifics on the seriousness of the survivors’ conditions.
The cause of the crash is currently being investigated, Xinhua added.
Traffic accidents are frequent in China due to a lack of rigorous safety regulations.
In February of last year, 16 people were killed and many others injured in a multiple-vehicle collision in central Hunan province.
The month before that, 19 individuals lost their lives and 20 were wounded in a road crash in eastern Jiangxi province.
– S’Korean tanker capsizes –
Five individuals were missing on Wednesday after a South Korea-flagged chemicals tanker with 11 people on board flipped over in rough seas off Japan, according to the coastguard.
Six crew members, including two South Koreans, eight Indonesians, and one Chinese, had been rescued so far, and the coast guard is “still looking for the remaining five,” a spokesman told AFP.
The tanker was “carrying acrylic acid, but there is no information yet on whether that has leaked into the ocean,” he added, without wishing to be named.
He said he was not aware of the conditions of those rescued, who were rushed to hospital.
Video from Japanese broadcaster NHK showed the overturned red hull of the ship as well as a life raft, as a coast guard ship navigated through heavy waves and a helicopter flew overhead.
The crew informed the coast guard early on Wednesday that the vessel was leaning and requested assistance near the island of Mutsure, off Japan’s southwestern coast, NHK reported.
The Japan Coast Guard received a rescue call shortly after 7:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday) stating that the ship was “leaning, please help us,” the spokesman said.
NHK named the vessel the Keoyoung Sun, which specialist website vesselfinder.com said is a chemical and oil products tanker built in 1996, measuring 69 meters (226 feet) in length.
The entity operating the ship refused to provide any comments.
AFP
