The truck suddenly dropped into the last part of the procession and then drove through the crowd before reaching the hearse
Nineteen people were killed and 20 injured on Sunday when a truck plowed into people attending a funeral in eastern China, media reported.
The accident occurred shortly before 1:00 a.m. Sunday (19:00 yesterday, Saturday, Greek time) in Nanchang County, Jiangxi Province, state broadcaster CCTV reported, according to which “the cause of the accident is under investigation in depth”.
A major traffic accident in Nanchang County, Jiangxi caused 17 deaths and 22 injuries.
A semi-trailer rushed into the funeral procession.#Chinapic.twitter.com/bV9dkuyOrs
— Wᵒˡᵛᵉʳᶤᶰᵉ Uᵖᵈᵃᵗᵉˢ𖤐 (@W0lverineupdate) January 8, 2023
People were on the side of the road on their way to the crematorium on Sunday morning, a resident surnamed Deng told local newspaper Jimu News.
Most of the dead and injured attended the funeral, according to the media outlet.
Another resident of the area, Gong, told Jimu News that he attended the funeral with his wife, who was killed in the accident.
He said the truck suddenly dropped into the last part of the procession and then drove through the crowd before reaching the hearse.
About an hour after the news broke, the Nanchang County Traffic Police issued an advisory for drivers, warning that there was fog in the area.
A major traffic accident in Nanchang County, Jiangxi caused 17 deaths and 22 injuries.
A semi-trailer rushed into the funeral procession.#Chinapic.twitter.com/9XReyjiMWi
— Wᵒˡᵛᵉʳᶤᶰᵉ Uᵖᵈᵃᵗᵉˢ𖤐 (@W0lverineupdate) January 8, 2023
“Visibility from the driver’s seat is poor. There is low visibility, which can easily cause traffic accidents.”
“Turn on your fog lights… , reduce speed, drive carefully, keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front, watch out for pedestrians, do not change lanes and do not overtake vehicles in front,” the road safety service further advised.
Traffic accidents are frequent in China due to a lack of strict safety controls.
Last month, one person was killed in a traffic jam on a highway in the center of the country involving hundreds of vehicles caused by reduced visibility due to fog.
In September, 27 passengers died when a bus carrying them to a quarantine facility in Guizhou province (southwest) overturned on a highway.
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