47 killed in two China expressway collisions

Forty-seven people were killed and four were injured in two separate expressway collisions in China on Sunday.

The first accident occurred around 2.18 am in China's Shaanxi province when a fully-occupied double-decker sleeper rammed into a methanol-loaded tanker, triggering a fire that instantly engulfed both vehicles and left 36 people aboard the bus dead, including the driver, Xinhua reported.

Only three people escaped from the bus and two of them suffered serious burns. The two drivers of the tanker, who were not hurt in the collision, were taken into police custody.

In another accident, a van carrying 12 people crashed into a stationary heavy-duty truck in the afternoon on an expressway in Sichuan province, leaving 10 people in the van dead and another two badly injured.

The two injured were sent to hospital and one died around 3.30 pm.