Sixteen people were killed and 31 injured in two traffic accidents in China on Friday and Saturday, according to government sources. A bus and a truck collided on an expressway in Wucheng, northern Shanxi Province, according to the Shanxi Expressway Administration Bureau on Saturday. The crash left seven dead and 29 injured, including three seriously.

The bureau said the accident was reported at 12:40 p.m. on Saturday. The exact time and cause are still being investigated.

The accident resulted in the closure of six entries to the expressway.

In the other accident, a container truck and another truck loaded with construction workers collided at 4:30 p.m. on Friday on a road in Pingdu City, eastern Shandong Province.

Nine people were killed and two slightly injured, according to Shandong's work safety authorities. The dead were from Shandong's Changyi and Pingdu cities and Henan Province. The two injured are being treated in hospital.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2008)