33 die in separate road accidents in China

At least 33 people have lost their lives and eight others sustained injuries in two separate roads accidents in China.

In the first incident on Sunday, 21 people were killed and three others injured after a bus plunged 100 meters into a ravine in the southwestern province of Guizhou.

A preliminary investigation suggested that the driver had illegally taken a road intended only for smaller vehicles.

In a separate event, a farm vehicle hurtled off a mountain road in the northwestern province of Gansu, killing 12 people and wounding five others.

The incidents mark the latest in transportation accidents in China, where road deaths average 22 per 100,000 of the population.

A thrashed bus is seen after it fell off a cliff in Linzhou, central China’s Henan Province, on March 3, 2015.

On March 3, some 20 people from an opera company were killed and 13 others injured when a bus fell off a cliff in Linzhou city in the central province of Henan.

Last July, 38 people were killed when a van carrying inflammable liquid hit a bus on a highway in central China. The collision triggered a fire and an explosion, which destroyed five vehicles. Another five people were also injured in the accident.

China ranks 44th out of 193 countries in terms of road deaths, according to a study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in the US.

The top-three nations for traffic fatalities were Namibia at 45 deaths per 100,000 of the population, Thailand 44 and Iran 38, the study showed.