A bus driver's rash overtaking maneuver has been blamed for a major highway accident that left 10people dead and 36 more injured in southwest China's Guizhou Province, sources with the provi ncial bureau of work safety said on Tuesday.

The accident occurred at 5:50 PM on Monday inside Sinan County when a bus carrying 49 passengers towards Jiangmen City in south China's Guangdong Province overturned and fell 30 meters down a slope.

Thirty-six people, including the bus driver, were injured in the accident, with only three escaping uninjured, said an officialwith the provincial bureau of work safety.

All of the passengers on the bus were migrant workers who were on their way to seek jobs in Guangdong, one of the country's economic powerhouses.

There was a miscalculation in the number of casualties in a report filed on Monday, which said nine people had died and 15 others had been injured, said the official.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2006)