Fifty-six die in Chinese road carnage

THREE major road accidents in China killed 56 people on the last day of a week-long holiday, including 35 people who died after a bus collided with a car.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the bus flipped over after crashing into a car in the northern port city of Tianjin on Friday afternoon. Eighteen people were injured in the incident.

Xinhua cited a Tianjin traffic official as saying the bus was speeding and that many passengers were thrown out of the vehicle when it hit the car and rolled over.

Also on Friday, in the eastern Anhui province, at least ten people died and 19 were injured in a 24-vehicle pile-up in fog. And 11 people died after a truck crashed into their van in central Henan province.

Serious traffic accidents are common in China because of often overloaded vehicles and badly trained drivers.