Brake failure on a heavy-duty truck is being blamed for causing
16 deaths in the deadliest May Day holiday road accident in
southwest China's Yunnan Province, said local sources.
After being hit in the back by a heavy-duty lorry, a light truck
veered into the path of oncoming bus and then ploughed into a crowd
of people waiting for another bus at 8:30 AM on Friday in Lincang,
a city in Yunnan.
Fourteen people died on the spot and 45 were injured. Two of the
injured died later in hospital where six of the injured are in
critical conditions, said sources from the Lincang city
government.
More than 60 villagers were standing by the highway, waiting for
a bus to take them to a market in the Yunxian county seat about 10
kilometers away.
One witness said he was riding a motorbike nearby when the
accident took place. "I saw from distance that the lorry was
running downhill after emerging from a tunnel, it was shaking
though not going very fast," recalled the motorcyclist, "I suspect
something went wrong with the brake."
"It's not very steep but its a long slope and heavy trucks can
often lose their brakes," said a shop owner.
Among the dead was the driver of the light truck.
Police have detained Sun Xianjun, driver of the Steyr heavy-duty
lorry who was unhurt in the accident.
Sun, a native of Chongqing Municipality in southwest China, was
hauling a dozen tons of water melon on his lorry from a nearby
township of Mengding.
Also aboard his lorry were members of his family and that of his
employer. They were all unhurt in the accident.
The Ministry of Public Security has sent officials to the site
to help with the investigation.
(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2007)