Initial investigations indicate that speeding and reckless driving may have played a part in a fatal traffic accident in northwest China's Gansu Province which killed 28 people, according to officials Tuesday.

The accident happened about 1:40 PM on Monday in the city of Tianshui when a heavy truck with three people in it collided first with a minivan and then a bus carrying 47 people.

The truck is suspected of traveling at 100kph on the stretch of road where the speed limit is 40kph.

Investigators found the truck was in poor condition which may also have been a factor in the cause of the accident. 

Twenty-four people including the truck driver were killed at the accident scene and four others died later -- one on the way to hospital and a further three after arriving for medical treatment. 

All those who died, including a three-year-old child, had been identified, said Hu Hong, director of the technology department with the local public security bureau.

The majority of those who died were local people of Maiji District in Tianshui. Their families will receive financial assistance for the funerals, said Jiang Xiaoqiang, Party Secretary of Maiji District Committee of Communist Party of China.

An injured crash victim is examined at the First People's Hospital in Tianshui.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2006)