4 dead, 38 injured as bus falls down roadside ditch in SW China

GUIYANG, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Four people, including a child, were killed Sunday morning when a coach veered off a road into the 8-meter-deep roadside ditch in southwest China, police authorities said.

The accident occurred at about 8:40 a.m. in Dafang County, Guizhou Province when the coach was en route from southern Guangdong Province to Guizhou's neighboring Sichuan Province, the county public security bureau said in a statement.

Thirty-eight injured passengers, including five in serious condition, have been sent to a local hospital, it said.

At the time of the accident, 47 people were aboard the long-distance bus.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.