15 dead, 44 injured in NW China pile-up

The death toll in a 31-vehicle pile-up on an expressway in northwest China's Gansu Province on Saturday evening has risen to 15 with 44 injured as of Sunday morning, local authorities said.

Ten of the 44 injured people were seriously injured, according to local government.

A tower-crane truck lost control and crashed into a line of vehicles 50 meters away from the Lanzhou South Toll Station on the Lanzhou-Haikou Expressway at 7:21pm in Lanzhou.

The truck driver, who was slightly injured in the crash, is under police watch and is being investigated. The driver said the vehicle had a brake failure in the continuous downhill section of the expressway. Cause of the accident is under investigation.

The Gansu provincial authorities demanded examination on dangerous sections of expressways across the province.