An overloaded bus taking mourners to a funeral veered off a mountain road and plunged into a ravine in northern China, killing 11 people and injuring 31, state media reported on Sunday.
Forty-two people were on the private 19-seat bus heading to the funeral when it careened off the road on Saturday morning in the remote Ningxia region, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Thirteen seriously injured people were in a critical condition while 18 others were in stable condition on Sunday, Huang Luning, head of the People’s hospital in Haiyuan county where the accident happened, told Xinhua.
The county’s top traffic official was fired after the accident and three other officials were suspended, the report said, without explaining why.
The youngest of those injured was seven months old and the oldest 77 years old, Mr Huang said.
—AFP
***
Guinea holds 1st free polls after Army rule
Conakry (Guinea), June 27: Guinea on Sunday held its first free election since independence more than half a century ago, a vote many hope will finally end decades of harsh military rule and launch a new democratic era.
On the eve of the ballot, the country’s powerful junta leader vowed to ensure fairness and transparency, and warned a roomful of presidential hopefuls they must help avert violence or risk casting the West African nation back to its volatile past. “We can no longer continue to live like we are in a jungle, as if we are in a state without authority,” Gen. Sekouba Konate told 24 candidates gathered on couches in the presidential palace. —AP
***
US: 4 fatally stabbed, suspect held
Northampton, (Pennsylvania), June 27: Four people were found stabbed to death Saturday in a house in north-eastern Pennsylvania and a suspect was in custody, authorities said.
The police discovered the bodies after responding to a car crash about a half-mile from the house, Northampton county district attorney John Morganelli said. The driver was covered in so much blood that police knew it wasn’t all from the car crash, Ms Morganelli said.
The driver’s statements led officers to the house, Mr Morganelli said, declining to elaborate.
Three bodies were found on the first level of the home; the fourth was in the basement, he said. All were stabbed multiple times.
—AP