"As far as I know, 29 people are dead and 29 people are injured at present," a female staff member for the traffic authority of Guizhou's Ceheng county said during a telephone interview.

The source, surnamed Chen, said police found 23 corpses in Ceheng County after Sunday's crash, and six people died later in the hospital.

The crash happened at 11:55 am on Sunday when the driver of the passenger bus was making a sharp turn at the mountainous area and the bus fell off the 62-metre high steep slope, according to Chen.

However, Chen refused to provide further information on those injured.

Including the driver, Huang Dexiang, the 35 injured were sent to the People's Hospital of Ceheng County -- considered the best one in the county -- after the accident, a local hospital source said, adding that only four people died after they were hospitalized.

"Most of the victims had bad injuries to their skulls, stomach and bones. The crash area is so mountainous," said an official of the hospital, who is surnamed Wang.

According to Wang, one victim was transferred to Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province because the hospital cannot provide the required treatment.

"So far, nine people are still in a critical situation," Wang said. "They are under special treatment, and for one of them, we have three doctors and two nurses providing around-clock therapy."

Wang said the provincial public healthy authority has sent 12 medical experts to the county to help treat the injured.

(China Daily 07/03/2001)