Twelve people were killed when a minibus toppled into a reservoir in south-eastern China, state media reported Saturday, in the latest fatal crash on the country's notoriously dangerous roads. The accident happened on Friday afternoon near Shaowu city in Fujian province when the driver of the minibus apparently swerved to avoid a motorbike, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing local authorities.
The bus rolled over and fell into the Qianling hydropower station reservoir, Xinhua said. A child and a baby were among those killed. The vehicle had a total of 21 people on board. Nine were rescued and taken to hospital but their injuries were not life-threatening, a local official quoted by the agency said. China's roads are among the most dangerous in the world, with traffic laws widely flouted. Almost 70,000 people died in road accidents in 2009, or around 190 fatalities a day, according to police statistics.