At least 16 people were killed and unknown number injured after a long-distance passenger bus collided with a truck in the northeast of China, Xinhua news agency reported.
The traffic accident occurred on Friday afternoon in Jilin Province at the entrance to an expressway near the provincial capital, Changchun.
"An initial investigation found the bus had a flat tire and crashed through the median barrier on the expressway, colliding with a car first and then the truck, which was carrying paper products," the agency quoted Su Limin, a spokesman for the Changchun expressway traffic police, as saying.
The seating capacity of the bus is 45, but the exact number of people traveling onboard at the time of the accident is still unknown.
According to witnesses, many people on the bus were burnt in the fire after the crash.
Other Chinese media sources report that 17 people were killed and 36 injured in the accident.
BEIJING, September 4 (RIA Novosti)
