Chinese police have detained the driver of an overloaded bus which plunged off a bridge on Monday and killed 26 passengers in southwestern Chongqing Municipality, local police sources confirmed.

The driver, Gao Wanyong, bears some of the responsibility for the accident, a local police spokesman said.

Overloading and speeding were the main causes of the accident, while unsafe guardrails only 10 centimeters high and a slippery road surface after overnight rain also contributed to the tragedy, he said.

The accident happened around 8:10 AM on Monday when a bus carrying 32 passengers, seven more than its limit, ploughed through the guardrail of a bridge that spans a narrow gully.

Twenty-six passengers were killed. Four of the six injured passengers are now out of danger in local hospitals, but the remaining two, a 26-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, are still in a critical condition.

According to the Chongqing municipal government, 253 people died in 202 road accidents in the first quarter of this year in the municipality.

Overloading was blamed for more than 60 percent of the total fatalities.

Statistics from the Ministries of Health and Public Security show traffic accidents have killed about 100,000 people and injured 400,000 each year on average for the last seven years in the country.

The State Administration of Work Safety issued a circular Thursday, requiring more police to patrol and inspect the roads before the May Day holiday from May 1 to 7, when large numbers of people will start heading home by road or traveling.

It also requires local work safety watchdogs and transportation departments to implement overhauls on buses and organize training courses for bus drivers before the holiday.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2007)