Three people were killed and more than dozen others injured in two separate road accidents in Anhui Province Sunday, the local traffic police said Monday.

One Buick MPV with four aboard tore open the fender and rolled off a freeway at around 7:50 AM Sunday, killing one man on the spot and injuring three others.

Another man later died of serious injuries in a local hospital.

The burst of one of the tires might be attributable to the accident, according to the police, who were carrying out further investigation.

In another accident, five vehicles piled up at around 8 AM Sunday, injuring more than one dozen people, 12 of whom were rushed to hospital.

Witnesses said that before the accident, the drivers of a Santana car and a tricycle went into scuffle because the latter was accused of scraping the car. A passing patrol police riding a tricycle with two temporary workers stopped to intervene.

At the time, one truck loaded with coal lost control after colliding with an in-coming minibus and rammed into the Santana, the two tricycles and the crowd of passers-by looking on at the roadside.

One of the temporary workers died later in hospital.

The truck driver was detained for driving without a license, and further investigation is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2005)