Beijing, Jan. 8 (BNA): A traffic accident in southern China killed 17 people and injured 22 others early Sunday as the Lunar New Year holiday travel season began, authorities said.
The accident occurred outside Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, according to the local traffic management brigade. The Associated Press quoted the general as saying it was not clear how many vehicles or types were involved and the cause is under investigation.
The Jimu News website quoted a local resident as saying that the victims were mourners from Taoling village who had set up a funeral tent at the side of the road, as is common in rural China, and were hit by a passing truck as they prepared. To travel to the local crematorium in the morning.
Ding told the website, which is published by the Hubei Daily newspaper based in a neighboring province, that many of the victims were her neighbours.
Jimo quoted another anonymous villager as confirming that version of events, adding that the scene had already been cleaned up. The condition of the injured was not known.
Major traffic accidents, often caused by driver fatigue, poor maintenance or overloading, used to be common, but stricter regulations have reduced their frequency in recent years.
Enforcement efforts over the condition of vehicles, drivers and passenger numbers ramp up around the time of the holiday, which is most important in China for family gatherings when tens of millions of migrant workers return to their hometowns.
With most COVID-19 restrictions over, those trips are expected to double this year to more than 2 billion in and around the week-long festival season that begins this year on January 22.
MI