Two people were killed and four others, including two Olympians, injured in a collision between a local cargo van and a bus from the Beijing Olympics fleet, an official announced on Thursday.

The two slightly injured passengers on the bus were athletes representing Croatia, while the four people on the van, two killed and two wounded, were all Chinese, said Wang Wei, spokesman of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 29th Olympic Games (BOCOG), at a press conference held in the Games' Main Press Center (MPC).

The accident occurred at a crossroad at around 2 p.m. Wednesday, when the Olympic bus, carrying two Croatian athletes, one Croatian coach, one volunteer and several other members of the Canadian and Australian delegations, was traveling from the Olympic Village to Shunyi, a suburban district of Beijing where the Olympic canoeing venues are located, said Wang.

All six injured were rushed to the hospital, where two succumbed to injury later.

"Police investigation showed that the van was responsible for the accident, as it violated the traffic rules," said the spokesman.

"The accident did not affect the athletes' schedule. They went back to training and competition immediately afterwards," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2008)