Overloaded vehicles and heavy trucks have been banned from the Badaling Expressway following a tragic accident that killed 24 people on Dec. 5.

Beijing traffic authorities have set up 29 checkpoints along the road that leads to a section of the Great Wall, one of the world's most precious historical heritages.

Trucks with loads of more than five tons have been forbidden from using the expressway since Dec. 12.

A truck from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region collided with a Beijing bus after the truck's brakes failed. The two vehicles flipped upside down, tumbled into a 20-meter-deep ditch and caught fire, killing 24 people on the spot and injuring nine others.

"Truck transport on the road was heavy as it is close to the Spring Festival. Overloaded cargo trucks pose a potential risk to road safety," said Wang Huiping, an official with the Beijing Public Security Bureau.

Wang said more than 10,000 overloaded trucks have been not permitted to enter the Badaling Expressway.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2005)