The death toll rose to 22 in a traffic accident happened Saturday night in Zhejiang Province, local police said Sunday.

A bus with 36 people on board collided with a taxi at about 11:40 PM on Saturday near the Jiujiu (double nine) Bridge at the Huzhou Economic Development Zone, police said.

The bus driver tried to avoid further damages by turning around the steering wheel abruptly, and the bus broke the bridge guardrail and fell into the six-meter-deep river, the police said.

The remaining people aboard the bus were slightly. Wang Rendong, the bus driver, has been taken into custody.

The taxi was carrying four people when the accident occurred. The taxi driver, Zhu Weiyang, and two passengers were injured slightly, and the other passenger is safe and sound, the police said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2005)