Families of 19 victims killed in Thursday's bus-truck crash in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have been compensated, local authorities said Sunday.

They received 4.17 million yuan (610,000 U.S. dollars) in total as compensation.

The bus driver blamed for the fatal accident was not able to raise the compensation right now. The insurance company needs time to pay the settlement. So the government of Fangzheng County, where the accident happened, paid the money in advance, said Hong Zhenguo, deputy head of Fangzheng County.

A sedan bumped into the rail on the icy Harbin-Tongjiang expressway Thursday. It was hit then by two trucks. The drivers later set up five warning signs along the road.

A bus collided with one of the trucks, killing 19 and injuring 27. Wang Yuliang, the bus driver, did not have a license for driving bus, police said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2009)