Three separate fatal traffic accidents on Thursday have left 23 people dead and another 38 injured. The accidents took place in Jilin Province, Tibet, and Chongqing Municipality, according to Xinhua News Agency.

 

In northeast China's Jilin Province, a truck veered off the road at a winding section of the Shuangjiang Highway in Shuangyang District, Changchun, at about 6:48 PM. It ran into a warehouse and overturned, killing nine people instantly and injuring one.

 

In the Tibet Autonomous Region, seven people were killed and 12 other injured when a bus and truck collided. The accident happened in Amdo County, Nagqu Prefecture, early Wednesday morning. A bus from Golmud City in neighboring Qinghai Province was traveling to Lhasa when it ran into a truck on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway. According to the prefecture public security department, the bus driver was speeding.

 

In Chongqing Municipality, seven people were killed and 25 others injured, five seriously, when a minibus plunged into a valley on Thursday.

 

The accident occurred at 10:30 AM Thursday. The minibus careened down a cliff more than 50 meters high in Conglin County, Fuling District. Six people were killed on the spot and another died on the way to hospital, according to the local government.

 

Investigations into the causes of the accidents are underway.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2006)