Twenty-eight people are reported dead and 19 injured in a traffic accident in eastern China's Fujian Province that occurred about 2:00 PM Thursday, local police said.

A loaded southbound truck jumped the center barrier and collided head-on with a northbound highway bus carrying 45 people on an expressway linking Fuzhou, the provincial capital, with coastal Xiamen. Twenty-four people were killed immediately and four others died en route to the hospital.

The injured people remain under medical care, according to police.

Fujian Province Deputy Governor Huang Xiaojing visited the scene and the hospital to express his sympathy. He ordered traffic authorities to enhance measures against speeding and overloading and to ensure road safety during the peak travel season around the Spring Festival.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the driver of the truck may have lost control after one or more of the tires blew. Further investigation is under way.

Accidents on China's roads killed 96,870 people in the first 11 months of 2004, up 1.5 percent from the preceding year. Severe accidents increased sharply in the period, with the 54 most serious accidents -- those with more than 10 deaths each -- killing 838 and injuring 878.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn January 7, 2005)