Thirteen people have been confirmed dead and three others injured after an overloaded passenger van rear-ended a semi-trailer truck on an expressway section in central China's Henan Province early Thursday morning, according to local authorities.
The crash took place at around 2:40 a.m. Thursday at the section in Nanyang City. The nine-seat passenger van carried 16 people at the time of the accident, reports Xinhua news agency. The Ministry of Public Security has dispatched a work team to Nanyang to guide the investigation and response efforts.
This comes close on the heels of another tragedy. The coal mine accident in north China's Shanxi Province has left 82 people dead, with nine others still unaccounted for, according to the county's emergency management bureau. Last week, a gas explosion occurred at the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan County.
This tragic incident claimed 82 lives.
The province sent 755 people, including rescuers and medical personnel, to the site. A total of 123 people were sent to hospitals for treatment, including two in critical condition and two in serious condition, while 33 others returned home. The persons responsible for the company involved in the mine accident have been placed under control in accordance with the law, the bureau said.
Earlier this month, a fireworks plant explosion in central China's Hunan Province had left around two dozen people dead and 61 others injured, according to the authorities. The explosion occurred at around 4:43 p.m. on May 4 at the plant of Huasheng fireworks manufacturing and display company in Liuyang, a county-level city under Changsha, the capital city of Hunan.
More than 480 rescuers in five teams were mobilised for the rescue, with three rescue robots deployed. As the explosion site was located near two black powder warehouses, the rescuers evacuated nearby residents and set up a buffer zone to prevent a secondary accident.