11 die in Chinese bus crash

An overloaded minibus plunged off a mountain road in southern China, killing 11 people, including the driver, the official Xinhua News Agency reported today.

Four others on board were injured in the accident in Guangdong province early yesterday morning, in which the bus fell 85 feet into a ravine and burst into flame, Xinhua said.

Authorities suspect the bus was travelling too fast when it left the road on a steep, s-shaped curve, the report said. The minibus was licensed to carry just 11 people, it said.

Such tragedies are a near-daily occurrence in China, where traffic accidents killed more than 23,000 people in the first three months of this year.