Three people were killed and 12 injured in a series of accidents on a northwest China freeway, said local traffic police on Wednesday.

The first accident occurred around 2:00 PM on Tuesday on the section of the Beijing-Lhasa expressway in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

A multi-purpose vehicle with eight people aboard and heading from Yinchuan to Zhongwei, both in Ningxia, overturned and landed on the median strip on the Mingsha section of the freeway.

Two people died at the scene and six others were seriously injured.

Four policemen were attending the accident when a truck with five people aboard smashed into the parked police car, killing one more person and injuring six others, including two policemen.

The drivers from both the multi-purpose vehicle and the truck were injured.

All the injured are being treated in hospital. Police are investigating the causes of the accidents.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2007)