15 dead in truck-tractor road crash in northern China
- Tractor passengers on the way to pick medicinal plants killed when truck rammed their vehicle
- Deputy public security minister sent to oversee investigation into the incident
More than a dozen people were killed in northeastern China early on Saturday when the tractor they were riding on was rammed by an articulated truck on a highway, according to mainland Chinese media reports.
In all, 15 people died and one person was injured in the incident at about 4.20am near the village of Shuangxingling in Heilongjiang province, state broadcaster China Central Television reported.
The tractor was not licensed and was travelling on national highway 229, according to the report.
The passengers in the tractor were on their way to pick marigolds, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine for their anti-inflammatory properties, Chengdu-based Red Star News reported.
The report quoted residents as saying the passengers were mostly in their 50s and 60s, and poor road conditions might have been a factor.
“The drivers start picking up people in the villages at 2am, in order to arrive at the fields before 4am,” Red Star News quoted a resident as saying.
“It’s too early and it’s too dark. Poor visibility on roads leads to delayed braking.”
