In a tragic incident, a truck ploughed through a funeral procession amid foggy weather in eastern China’s Jiangxi province on Sunday (January 8), killing 19 people and leaving 20 others injured in a major road accident, according to reports. Local authorities told state broadcaster CCTV that the accident happened before 1 am (17.00 GMT) in the Nanchang County. The CCTV report added that an in-depth investigation is on to ascertain the cause of the accident.
A report by a local news outlet Jimu said the accident took place when a truck hit a funeral procession. A woman said people were carrying out a roadside offering before heading to the crematorium when they were hit by the truck. Most of the dead and injured included funeral attendees.
An hour after the news came in, the Nanchang County traffic police issued travel advice to drivers. “Driving visibility is poor, there is low visibility, which can easily cause traffic accidents. Please pay attention to fog lights… slow down, drive carefully, keep a safe distance from the car in front, avoid pedestrians, do not change lanes and overtake,” the traffic police said, news agency AFP reported.
This major accident in the Jiangxi province comes three days after China’s public security ministry issued a warning on Thursday for road traffic safety risks during the Lunar New Year holiday travel rush, which started on Saturday.
In December last year, one person died due to a highway pile-up in Central China also caused by fog. In September, a bus going to quarantine facilities in Guizhou province flipped over on a motorway, killing 27 passengers.
(With inputs from agencies)
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