Bus driver's alleged suicide attempt kills 29: report

China's state media agency says a bus driver on a suicide mission has deliberately driven his over-crowded vehicle through a guard rail, killing 29 people and injuring another 21.

The Xinhua news agency has quoted police saying the bus yesterday plunged 30 metres into a dry river bed in south-west China yesterday.

It says initial investigations show the driver intentionally steered the bus off the road in an attempted suicide, but gives no further details as to why police suspect this.

The wording of the report, saying the driver "attempted" suicide, indicates he may not have been among those killed and he may have been able to speak with investigators.

Xinhua says the ill-fated bus was over-crowded because it had shortly earlier stopped to pick up passengers from another bus that had broken down.

China's roads are among the most dangerous in the world, with nearly 42,000 people killed in traffic accidents in the first six months of this year, government statistics say.

Last year, more than 100,000 people were killed on China's roads, an average of 270 traffic fatalities every day.

- AFP