A road accident in central China's snow-plagued Hunan Province killed four people and injured five others, local officials said on Monday.

The overloaded sedan with nine passengers skidded off a road and broke through a guardrail before plunging into a river at around 11 p.m. on Sunday when it was crossing a bridge in Le'an Town, Anhua County.

Four people, including three migrant workers and a college girl returning home, died at the site while the other five were taken to hospital. One of the injured remained in critical condition on Monday afternoon.

An Anhua traffic police attributed the accident to a slippery road surface caused by snow and overloading.

Snow has been falling in various parts of China since mid-January, leading to death, structural collapse, blackouts, accidents, transport problems and livestock and crop destruction.

The snow havoc has hit 19 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, toppled 223,000 homes and damaged another 862,000, said the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Scores of people have died in snow-related accidents, according to reports from the provinces and regions.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2008)