17 dead in China crash as holiday travel rush gets underway
Authorities in southern China say 17 people have died and 22 were injured in a traffic accident at the start of the Lunar New Year holiday travel rush
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A traffic accident in southern China killed 17 people and injured 22 others early Sunday as the annual Lunar New Year holiday travel rush got underway, authorities said.
The accident occurred outside the city of Nanchang in Jiangxi province, according to the local traffic management brigade. It wasn't clear how many vehicles or what types were involved and the cause was under investigation, the brigade said.
Website Jimu News quoted a resident as saying the victims were mourners from the village of Taoling who had set up a funeral tent on the side of the road, as is common in rural China, and were hit by a passing truck as they were preparing to travel to the local crematorium in the morning.
Several of the victims were her neighbors, the woman — identified only by her surname, Deng — told the site, which is published by the Hubei Daily newspaper based in a neighboring province.
Jimu quoted another unidentified 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 fatigued drivers and poorly maintained or overloaded vehicles, used to be common, but tighter regulations have reduced their frequency in recent years.
Enforcement efforts on the condition of vehicles and drivers and passenger numbers are redoubled around the time of the holiday, China’s most important for family gatherings when tens of millions of migrant workers return to their hometowns.
With the end of most COVID-19 restrictions, the number of such trips is expected to double this year to more than 2 billion on and around the weeklong festival season that starts this year on Jan. 22.