At least 24 people were killed and nine others injured in a collision on an expressway northwest of Beijing Sunday evening, the municipal public security bureau said today.

The accident took place at about 8 PM yesterday when a calcium carbide-loaded truck from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region crashed with a Beijing passenger bus due to brake failure at a section of the Badaling Expressway in Changping District.

The two vehicles overturned and fell into a 20-meter-deep ditch and caught fire, killing 24 on the spot.

One person was injured seriously and eight others suffered minor injuries.

Officials, traffic police, firefighting teams and medical staff rushed to the site of the tragedy and further investigations into its cause are underway.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2005)