XI'AN - A total of ten people have been detained over an expressway bus-tanker collision that killed 36 in Northwest China's Shaanxi province last month, local authorities said Sunday.

Tanker drivers, surnamed Shan and Zhang, were taken into police custody on Thursday for dangerous driving, sources with the Shaanxi police said. Previously, the police had detained eight people from the bus company in connection with the accident.

On Aug 26, a double-decker sleeper bus burst into flames after hitting a methanol tanker on an expressway in Ansai county in Shaanxi, killing 36 people and injuring three others on the bus.

An initial investigation showed that Shan and Zhang were to blame for the accident as they were driving slowly after "illegally entering the expressway" from an entrance ramp, causing a rear-ending, according to the police. The duo did not report the accident immediately to police or their company, nor did they take necessary rescue measures, the police said.

The two drivers, both from a Henan-based transport company, were suspected of committing a crime of "causing an accident with dangerous articles", according to the police.

Such a crime could lead to imprisonment up to seven years, according to China's criminal law.