Slick roads, driver blamed for road accident killing 14 in N China

Slippery roads and driver's improper operation were to blame for a road accident which killed 14 people and injured 40 others in north China's Shanxi Province last week, local police said Monday.

The accident happened Friday, when a bus with 54 on board from Hebei Province to Taiyuan, Shanxi's capital, plunged off 50 meters into a valley while it wound through a mountainous road in Yangquan city.

Ten passengers were killed on the spot, three died on the way to hospital. An injured woman, 28, surnamed Li, died in the hospital one day later.

An official with Yangquan municipal government said eight people who were seriously injured in the accident were still in ICUs, among which one was still in critical condition.

An initial investigation showed that slick roads and driver's improper operation led to the accident, said Yang Husheng, a local police officer.

The driver, who suffered bone fracture in one leg, has been under police control.

The bus from a tourism agency was rented by the Jinwanxia Healthcare Products Company of Taiyuan, which was taking the company's customers to Hebei for traveling, a way by the company to reward users of its products.

Source: Xinhua