Chinese driver held over fatal bus accident

Police in southwest China's Yunnan Province have detained a bus driver after his vehicle plunged into a valley killing eight people and injuring 19 others.

Twenty-seven people, including 25 tourists, were aboard the bus when it overturned and plummeted into a 40-meter-deep ravine in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna at noon Sunday.

Of the injured, including 11 in serious condition, only one has been discharged from hospital while two have been transferred to a hospital in Kunming, capital of Yunnan, the information office of the prefecture government said Tuesday.

An initial investigation blamed the accident on the road being slippery due to rainy weather. A further investigation is underway.

The tourists were from 11 families in the northeastern province of Jilin.