A highway pile-up involving at least 31 cars killed 15 people in northwest China's Gansu province, officials said, leaving dramatic scenes of twisted and burnt-out wreckage.
The pile-up occurred on Saturday after a heavy truck lost control and crashed into a line of vehicles waiting at a toll station on the Lanzhou-Haikou Expressway, state-run China Daily reported on Sunday.
Officials said another 44 people were injured in the pile-up at the toll station which is close to Lanzhou, capital of Gansu.
Investigation into the cause of the accident is underway, the report said.
Dramatic video footage of the's crash showed a woman striking the driver over the head with an object, prompting him to hit back with one hand. The woman then lashed out once more at the driver.
The driver then suddenly yanked the wheel hard to the left and the bus veered onto incoming traffic, striking a car before breaking through the rails of the bridge crossing the Yangtze River, in the southwest city of Chongqing.
Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced.
According to authorities 58,000 people were killed in accidents across the country in 2015 alone.
Violations of traffic laws were blamed for nearly 90 per cent of accidents that caused deaths or injuries that year.
PTI
