26 killed as tour bus catches fire in China

Beijing, March 23

A tour bus caught fire in central China’s Hunan Province on Friday killing 26 people, local authorities said.

The 28 injured in the incident were rushed to three local hospitals. Among them the condition of five was said to be critical, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted local officials as saying.

The accident occurred on Friday evening when the 59-seater bus from neighbouring Henan province suddenly caught fire on a highway in Hanshou county in the city of Changde.

The bus had 53 passengers, two drivers and a tour guide at the time of the incident.

The two drivers were detained and an investigation into the cause of the accident is under way.

The incident came a day after 64 people lost their lives while 640 were injured in a powerful explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China. The blast occurred on Thursday following a fire in a fertiliser factory in a chemical industrial park in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, according to the government of Xiangshui county. PTI