China: Coach crashes into expressway tunnel wall in Shaanxi province killing 36 and injuring 13

Shanghai: At least 36 people were killed when a coach crashed into the wall of an expressway tunnel in China’s northwest, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. The coach hit the wall of a tunnel along the Xi’an-Hanzhong expressway in China’s Shaanxi Province shortly before midnight on Thursday, Xinhua reported, citing provincial authorities. [caption id=“attachment_3918273” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Police and firefighters work near the wreckage of the coach. Reuters[/caption] Thirteen people were injured and were rushed to hospital, Xinhua said. Rescue work was still underway. The coach was travelling from the southwestern city of Chengdu to Luoyang city in China’s central Henan province. China does not release statistics on the total number of accidents each year, but the World Health Organisation estimated in 2013 that around 250,000 people were killed on Chinese roads that year. Beijing has vowed to clamp down on dangerous driving, but the rapid growth in car ownership and relatively lax checks on driving ability have made it difficult to curb the number of accidents, especially on rural roads.