China detains six officials after deadly road accident

Failure by officials to stop overloaded trucks has led to the deadly accident in southwest China's Sichuan province that killed 21 people and injured seven others in September, officials said Thursday.

Investigations show that Liu Zhaohua and three other officials from the transportation bureau of Quxian county regularly imposed fines on overloaded trucks and but allowed them to continue their journey without reducing their loads as required, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said.

Most of the trucks on the roads of the county were seriously overloaded and posed a grave threat to public security, the top procuratorate said.

On Sept. 15, a passenger bus collided with a truck overloaded with gypsum cobbles and plunged into a three-meter-deep riverbed in Quxian County. The truck also overturned and unloaded its cargo onto the passengers.

Twenty-one people, including 14 students, died in the accident.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate ordered a swift investigation by the Sichuan provincial procuratorate.

Investigations also found that Mao Dejun and Chen Shuxin, both from the transportation bureau and superiors to the four officials, were aware of their delinquency. But instead of stopping them, the two actually took bribes from them, officials said.

Investigation of the case continues, the procuratorate said.