China's State Council Work Safety Committee issued an urgent circular on Sunday, requiring the transportation, chemical and mining sectors to take strict precautions against serious accidents.

"Overall, the work safety situation was stable during the May Day holiday, but 33 accidents killed 75 people in the first four days of this month", said the circular.

The number of accidents and death toll were respectively down from 44 and 130 in the same period of last year.

On May 4, 16 people were killed in a car accident in southwest China's Yunnan province when a truck veered off the road and ploughed into a crowd of people waiting for a bus.

In east China's Anhui province, 33 people were poisoned or injured in an ammonia leak in a chemical plant the same day.

The next day, a colliery explosion claimed 20 lives and left 10 missing in northern Shanxi province.

Source: Xinhua