Up to 23 others were injured in Friday's crash -- four critically and three others seriously -- and sent to area hospitals, said Capt. Mike Dubee of the Washington State Patrol in Spokane, Washington.

Some of the injured were thrown from the vans, two of which rolled over, Dubee said.

The 36 members of the troupe were from the Beijing Academy of Dance, and had performed in Spokane Thursday. They were driving to Portland in the neighboring state of Oregon for another performance.

Eleven of the injured were at a hospital in the town of Othello, where all were in stable condition. Most of the victims, ranging in age from 16 to 20, suffered bumps and bruises, hospital officials said.

``They are all quite traumatized,'' said Fay Coats, assistant administrator of the hospital. One of the injured was sent to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, about 110 miles (176 kilometers) to the east, with a fractured leg and facial trauma, she said.

Most of the troupe's members do not speak English, but a hospital employee and a local resident who speak Chinese were interpreting, she said.

The dancers were all professionals from China and averaged 22 years old. Most had not previously visited the United States.

``We're sending officials from our consulate to handle this sad accident,'' said Lei Hong, a spokesman with the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.

The tour was organized by Seattle choreographer Li Heng Da, 37, who immigrated from China in 1990 and was a soloist with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle for six years before opening his own dance academy. It was not immediately known whether Li was traveling with the group.

The accident occurred at near the small town of Ritzville, which is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) east of Seattle.

Heavy snows coated highways throughout the state with ice and snow Friday morning, and there were numerous accidents. But the cause of the crash was not immediately known, Dubee said, adding that language barriers were slowing the investigation.

All three of the rented vans apparently slid off the road independently, Dubee said.

``At least two rolled over and a third slid off,'' he said.

The dancers were in the midst of a three-week tour titled ``China in Dance 2001-Legends of the Dynasties.'' The tour opened in Seattle last week, and was to include performances in several cities along the west coast of the United States.

The dancers, who traveled with 200 costumes and eight backdrops, performed to a full house at The Met theater in Spokane Thursday night. Theater manager Michael Smith said the vans appeared to be new and were heavily loaded with luggage.

(China Daily 02/17/2001)