Fatigue driving was found out to be the major cause of an expressway accident that claimed 17 lives last Monday in north China's Hebei Province, a local official said Sunday.

The tragedy occurred at about 5:20 p.m. on Dec. 19 on an expressway in Hebei's Wangdu County when a truck, which had just been hit by another truck in the tail, collided with a bus carrying 16 passengers, said Wang Bingyong, director of the Hebei Provincial Traffic Control Bureau.

The bus was from Hebei's Handan City and the truck with which it collided was from Hebei's Chengde City, while the other truck was from Huludao City of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Wang said.

The expressway links Beijing with Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei.

Thirteen people aboard the bus and four in the trucks died at the scene, and three other people were injured.

Wang Zhen, driver of the Huludao truck, was found out to be fatigue driving when the accident happened, Wang said.

The 17 victims were from provinces of Hebei, Liaoning and Shandong, and their identities have all been confirmed, he said.

Source: Xinhua