The Beijing travel agency which hosted a group of Hong Kong tourists is facing an investigation after some of the tourists were injured when their bus overturned last Monday.

The Beijing Youxue Holiday Travel Agency is accused of renting a coach that was not licensed to carry tourists. The agency also does not have a permit to receive overseas tourists, according to the notice issued by the Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau on Monday.

The bureau said the travel agency could receive "further punishment".

The accident happened at 21:31 on April 17 on the freeway from the Beijing International Airport to downtown when the coach with 21 Hong Kong students on a cultural exchange turned over due after rains made the road slippery.

Fifteen Hong Kong students and three local people accompanying them were injured.

Two students, one with a broken collar bone, the other suffering a chest injury, continue to receive treatment in Beijing. The other students have returned to Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2006)