21 killed, 27 injured in two road accidents in China

BEIJING: Twenty-one people died and 27 were injured in two separate bus accidents in China, local authorities said on Wednesday.In Xuchang, central China’s Henan Province, a coach crashed on an expressway Tuesday evening, killing 16 people and injuring 23 others, state media reported police sources.The coach initially hit two cars that had already collided with each other.It then smashed through the expressway safety barrier, hurtled down a slope and overturned, said Xi Hongyu, deputy head of the traffic police unit in Xuchang.The bus had 42 people onboard, including a driver and a conductor.Four of the passengers died at the scene. Twelve died later in hospital. Six of the injured were seriously hurt.In the other accident, a bus overturned on a highway in Wuwei, northwestern Gansu Province, early Wednesday, killing five people and severely injuring four, a spokesman with the Gansu Provincial Work Safety Administration – APP