Two serious traffic accidents over the past three days have claimed 24 lives and left more than 40 injured in Hunan Province.

The more serious of the two took place in Changsha, the provincial capital, early yesterday morning when an overloaded bus careered off the road, instantly killing 15 of its passengers. A further two passengers died on their way to hospital.

The long-distance coach, licensed to carry 49 passengers but holding 63, was en route from Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province to Chongqing when it ran off the road at 1:20 am.

More than 30 passengers were injured in the accident.

Changsha's Public Security Bureau was informed of the accident at about 1:30 am. Police and fire fighters immediately rushed to the scene.

The cause of the accident is still unclear, said an official from the city's Public Security Bureau, adding that driver fatigue or overloading could not be ruled out.

The second accident took place on Monday when a coach from Xiangfan, Hubei Province, crashed into a van in Changsha, leaving seven dead and more than 10 injured, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Two of the dead were bus drivers. Six of the victims died on the spot and one on the way to hospital. Fourteen people are still receiving treatment in a local hospital, one of whom was fatally injured in the accident, according to reports.

A passenger surnamed Wang recalled that when the accident happened, she was thrown forward. Since the bus door could not be opened, she and fellow passengers were forced to break one of the coach's windows to escape, Xinhua reported.

Both buses had insurance, with compensation payouts expected to exceed 1 million yuan (US$123,000).

Traffic accidents in China claimed around 107,000 lives last year, according to Xinhua.

Source: China Daily