Society

15 dead in two China road accidents

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-23 17:50

BEIJING - Fifteen people were killed and two injured in two road accidents in China, local police authorities said Thursday.

A semi-trailer truck crashed with an oncoming mini-bus in Songbei district in Harbin, the capital city of northeastern Heilongjiang province at about 6:10 am Thursday, the city police department said in a statement.

The crash killed seven people in the minibus, including the driver, at the scene, it said.

Local police were investigating the cause of the crash.

In another accident, eight people were killed and two injured on a highway in northwestern Shaanxi province around noon on Wednesday, the police department in Ningshan county said in a statement Thursday.

The accident occurred when a minibus rammed into a truck parked on roadside after colliding with a passenger coach, police said.

Three passengers in the minibus died at the scene and seven injured were rushed to a hospital, but five died after emergency treatment failed, according to the statement

An initial police investigation found that slippery road conditions amid heavy rains were partly to blame.