The State Council Work Safety Commission said Monday that "severe" overloading and driver's mismanagement caused the deadly coach accident in central China on Oct. 2, Xinhua reported. The coach overturned in Yongzhou of central China's Hunan Province Friday, killing 17 people, and injuring 54 others. Seven were "seriously" wounded. When the accident took place, 71 passengers were on the coach, which doubled the standard capacity of 31, said the commission. Poor road conditions and a brake failure were also blamed for the tragedy, it said. The commission said the accident revealed the loopholes in transportation safety supervision, and urged local authorities to tighten the crack-down on overloading, overspeeding and fatigue driving to ensure road safety amid the travel boom during the National Day holiday. Road traffic heated up in China as 59.53 million passengers traveled by road Monday, up 6.1 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Communications.
