Fatal Toll Road Crash Kills 13 as Minivan Overloaded with 16 Passengers

A fatal crash occurred in Henan province, central China, when an overcrowded minivan collided with a truck on a toll road early Thursday, killing 13 people and injuring three others. According to China’s Ministry of Public Security’s traffic management bureau, the minivan was carrying 16 passengers despite a maximum capacity of nine. The bureau stated on Weibo that the van struck the rear of a semi-trailer truck. The incident happened at around 2:40 am local time on the G40 toll road in Nanyang city, Henan. The impact caused most passengers to die at the scene. The ministry said it was closely monitoring the incident and had sent an investigation team to Nanyang. The crash has once again highlighted transportation safety issues in China, particularly regarding overloaded vehicles and poor adherence to traffic rules. Previously, in November last year, a train accident in Kunming, southwest China, killed 11 railway workers and injured two others—the deadliest rail incident in the country in over a decade. In June last year, a driver in Chongqing allegedly hit a crowd after being protested for honking excessively, resulting in one death and four injuries.