28 people were killed and three others injured yesterday after their bus careened into a 100-metre-deep valley in the mountainous Zhaotong region of Yunnan Province.

The accident was the most serious the city, nearly 400 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital of Kunming, has witnessed in recent years, according to Zhou Bangcai, a local government official.

31 people, including the driver, were onboard when the accident happened in the Qiaojia County of Zhaotong. Zhou said that the bus was not overloaded. 

Most of the victims were farmers on their way home from the town of Qiaojia, sources said.

The injured were rushed to county hospitals.

The Qiaojia county government has set up an emergency response team to supervise the rescue operation and on-site investigations.

Zhou said that it is as yet unclear if drink driving or some other violation of traffic laws was involved.

(China.org.cn, China Daily March 29, 2006)