Five tourists were killed on the spot and 21 others were injured when a bus plunged into a lake in the famous Shilin (Stone Forest) Scenery Zone, 100 km away from Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The bus driver and two tour guides were unhurt in the accident taking place around noon on Sunday, said information from relevant local departments of the Yi Autonomous County of Shilin, which is under jurisdiction of Kunming City, the provincial capital.

According to the information, the bus, with 29 people on board,carried a tour group consisting of senior citizens all from Beijing. One survivor of the bus accident recalled that the accident happened all of a sudden and the bus went awry from one side of the bridge road to the other side, ending itself in the lake after piercing through the bridge fencing.

One witness said the bus lost control as the driver tried to avoid a little girl playing on the bridge.

All the injured are now hospitalized.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2004)