A bus collides with a truck trailer in the wee hours of Thursday morning in east China's Shandong Province, killing 16 people and injuring 18 others, according to local sources.

The injured are still in hospital for treatment.

The tragedy occurred at 1:34 AM Thursday in Liaocheng city of Shandong when the bus collided with the trailer parking temporarily in front. The bus, with 34 people aboard, was owned by the city transport company of Kaifeng in central China's Henan Province. The trailer was from north China's Hebei Province.

Preliminary investigation owes driving fatigue to deadly accident, said a source with local government.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2005)