8 dead, 19 injured after bus leaves road in Jinghong

Eight people were confirmed dead and 19 others injured in a bus accident in Jinghong, the capital of Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province, the local government said on Sunday.

At around 12:40 pm, a tourist bus carrying 27 people, including a driver and visitors from Jilin province, slid off the highway connecting Mengyang township and Jinghong and fell into a 40-meter-deep chasm, according to a press release from the prefecture's information office.

Rescuers work on the site of a bus accident on Sunday, after a tourist bus overturned and fell into a valley from a highway in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province. Eight died and 19 were injured in the accident. Initial investigations said the road was slippery because of heavy rain. Photo?by Dai Zhenhua / for China Daily

Eight people were confirmed dead at the scene.

The injured have been hospitalized but their conditions are not yet known.

An initial investigation indicated the vehicle slid due to a lack of traction caused by heavy rain, sources said.

The large amount of rainfall this season in Yunnan, one of the favorite tourism destinations in the country, is a threat to cars on the roads, tourism experts said.

Yin Min, a professor of tourism management at Beijing International Studies University, said drivers and tourism agencies must pay more attention to changing weather and consequent traffic conditions in Southwest China, where people may enjoy sunshine in one location while there are downpours just 10 km away.

In addition, Yin suggested local traffic police set up timely warning systems on popular routes to reduce the risk of sliding off a road into a chasm, which may cause fatalities and injuries.