Twenty-one people died and five were injured when a truck hit an overloaded three-wheeler light tractor in northern China's Hebei province early Wednesday, state media said. The tractor was carrying 24 farmers when it collided with the truck at 4 a.m. in Hebei's Wuqiang county, the official Xinhua news agency said. Fourteen people died instantly in the crash, and seven more died in hospital, the agency said. The cause of the accident was under investigation, it said. Road traffic accidents killed an average of 270 people daily in China from January to May, the Ministry of Public Security said. Many of the accidents occur on roads through poor, mountainous areas, where open three-wheeler tractors and similar vehicles are used for public transport.
