At least 24 were killed and nine others injured in a vehicle collision Sunday evening on an expressway in central-western Beijing, the municipal public security bureau said Monday.

The accident took place at about 8 PM Sunday when a calcium carbide-loaded truck from the north China's Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region crashed with a Beijing passenger bus due to brake failure at a section of the Badaling Expressway in the 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 seriously injured and eight others slightly injured.

Officials, traffic police, firefighting teams and medical staff have rushed to the site of the tragedy.

Further investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2005)