On Tuesday, the death toll from the March 17 bus explosion in east China's Jiangxi Province rose to 31 when four more victims were identified through DNA tests.

The blast took place when a double-decker bus was hit by a truck loaded with firecrackers and gunpowder on an expressway in the city of Shangrao, Jiangxi Province. Earlier estimates put the number of dead at 27.

Many of the victims were blown to pieces, making it difficult to determine immediately the exact number of casualties.

So far, 28 passengers and three bus employees have been identified.

Relatives have not yet been able to begin claiming the remains of the victims. Officials from Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hunan and Guangdong provinces are dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy and working to determine liability.

Experts have established that the truck accident leading to a lethal chemical spill on March 29 in east China's Jiangsu Province was caused by overloading and worn tires.

Kang Zhaoyong and Wang Gang, drivers with the Jining Kedi Hazardous Chemicals Transportation Center of Shandong Province, lost control of the truck carrying tanks filled with more than 40 tons of liquefied chlorine when one of its tires exploded. It crashed into a cargo truck and both vehicles overturned, leading to a chemical spill that killed 29 people and poisoned another 436. Direct economic losses are estimated at 17.0 million yuan (US$2.0 million).

Kang, who was driving, reported the accident to expressway management authorities but did not say that the tanker was carrying hazardous materials, thus delaying the evacuation of local residents. Kang and Wang fled the scene, but both have since been detained and charged.

The truck was loaded at 170 percent of capacity and wear on the tires was far beyond the amount allowed by technical and safety standards, investigators said.

On Monday this week, three people were killed and one injured in a traffic accident in north China's Henan Province, according to the local traffic police department.

The accident occurred at 6:55 PM when a car overturned and fell 200 meters down a cliff on the No. 311 National Highway in Xixia County. Three people were pronounced dead at the scene and a fourth was seriously injured.

The four people in the car were all males and excessive speed is believed to be the cause of the accident. Medical personnel said the survivor of the crash is out of danger.

The identities of five people of the six people killed in a traffic accident on Monday in the city of Beihai, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, were confirmed on Tuesday.

Three others were injured in the accident when a sedan collided with several motorcycles at a downtown intersection on Sichuan Road at 3:00 PM.

Vice Mayor Chen Bingcai visited the homes of the victims on Tuesday morning.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation

In Feixi County, east China's Anhui Province, a head-on collision of a passenger bus and two trucks -on Monday killed four people and injured 11 others, local police confirmed on Tuesday.

The accident took place at about 1:30 PM when the bus collided with a truck carrying bricks on a highway. The bus then spun and struck the second truck head-on, local police quoted a witness as saying.

Three people were pronounced dead at the scene and another died in hospital. All the injured people have been hospitalized.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident

On April 6, Han Yi, a senior official with the State Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said that China will tighten its inspections of passenger vehicles with more than nine seats. The announcement came following a rash of serious accidents involving passenger buses.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2005)