Society

At least 3 killed after bus plunge in Henan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-01 08:55

ZHENGZHOU: At least three people have died, and seven were rescued after a bus carrying about 18 people plunged into a reservoir Monday morning in central China's Henan Province, local authorities said.

New bodies had been found in the bus but since it was seriously damaged, the exact death toll was still unknown, the publicity department under the municipal CPC (Communist Party of China) committee of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, said in a statement.

The bus was pulled from the water at 4 am Monday, and then towed away for investigation, it said.

The accident occurred at about 5 pm on Sunday when the bus driver lost control, letting the bus smash through a bridge guardrail and plunge into water near the Jiangang reservoir, about 10 km from downtown Zhengzhou.

The seven rescued were being treated in Zhengzhou No.2 People's Hospital.

More than 100 fire fighters, police and paramedics were carrying out the rescue work. It was still difficult to establish the precise number of missing people because the exact number on the bus at the time of the accident was not known.

The bus had 18 passengers when it left the Zhengzhou South Bus Station for Xinmi, a county-level city near Zhengzhou. However, people might have gotten on or off the bus after it left the station.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident.