16 die after groom's truck plunges over cliff in central China

dpa German Press Agency Published: Thursday February 8, 2007

Beijing- Sixteen people died after a groom drove an
overloaded light truck over a cliff as wedding guests were returning
to their homes in the central province of Hunan, the government said
on Thursday.
The truck was designed to carry a maximum of five people but had
32 on board when it plunged more than 60 metres on Wednesday from a
wet road in mountainous area of Hunan's Hefeng county, the State
Administration of Work Safety said.

The death toll had reached 16 by Thursday and the 16 other
passengers were all injured, four of them seriously, the
administration said on its website.

State media said the groom, Li Zhimin, was among those who died
and that the other passengers were all relatives.

Officials blamed overloading, poor visibility and slippery
conditions for the accident, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Traffic accidents kill more than 200 people daily in China,
according to government statistics. Many occur on dangerous roads in
rural areas.

But the World Health Organization has estimated the daily total of
Chinese pedestrians, drivers, cyclists and others killed in road
traffic accidents at more than twice the official figure.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency