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Bus crash kills

22 in China

BEIJING: Twenty-two people were killed and 29 injured when a bus rearended a large flatbed truck carrying steel beams on a highway in China's southern Fujian province, state media said.

The bus was travelling from Fuzhou city to Quanzhou city and was near the city of Fuqing when the accident occurred Saturday, the Beijing Morning Post said, citing the official Xinhua news agency in Fujian.

The cause of the accident in under investigation.

Statistics show China's roads are becoming more dangerous, with the number of accidents jumping 19.5 percent in the first 10 months of 1999 compared to the same period in 1998.

In the first 10 months of 1999, 67,000 people were killed and 230,000 injured in 330,000 accidents, according to the Traffic Administrative Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security.ÑAFP