25 dead after bus overturns amid record snowfall in China
Posted: 29 January 2008 1208 hrs

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BEIJING: Twenty-five people were killed and 13 injured Tuesday when a bus overturned on an icy road in a part of southwestern China clobbered by the heaviest snowfall in years, the government said.

The bus careened off an express road near the town of Sanhe in Guizhou province in the morning, rolling down a 40-metre slope, the government's safety administration said in a statement.

Xinhua news agency said two of the injured were in serious condition.

The bus, which was travelling from the municipality of Chongqing in southwest China to the city of Shenzhen in the south, was made to carry 35 people but was carrying three more.

China's treacherous roads became even more dangerous over the past three days as vast swathes of the nation's south, southwest and east were pounded by the worst snows in 50 years, triggering traffic chaos and killing dozens.

The civil affairs ministry said Monday that 24 people died due to heavy snow in China since January 10, but the toll did not appear to include dozens reportedly killed in traffic accidents on icy roads during the period.

The weather woes come as millions of Chinese try to head home for the Lunar New Year, the country's most important holiday.

- AFP/yb