The Monday traffic accident that left a Russian truck driver dead and a bus driver, a Kyrgyz national, injured in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, was caused by the truck driver's illegal driving, local police said on Thursday.

The 28-year-old Russian driver was driving on the left side of a road which had many sharp turns at the segment when the truck, en route to Kyrgyzstan, collided with a bus carrying 15 Kyrgyz tourists at about 4 p.m. in Wuqia County, Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture of Kizilsu, the prefecture's traffic police said.

The truck driver died on the way to the hospital but the bus driver was slightly injured.

The truck driver's body has been transferred to Russia. The bus driver and the 15 tourists have all returned home. They were travelling from Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, to Artux City in Xinjiang, the police said.

Wuqia County is 1,500 kilometers from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. It is at the west end of the region where the Tianshan and Kunlun mountain ranges meet.

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2008)