Drowsy driving was found to have caused the bus crash, in which two Russian tourists were killed and several others injured in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province early on Friday, according to the police's interrogation of the bus driver.

The bus driver, who was under police detention, admitted that he was sleepy while driving.

The bus carrying 22 Russian tourists veered and overturned at a crossroad of Tielinghe Town of Mudanjiang City at about 4:40 AM, five hours after the driver drove in dark from Hunchun City in Jilin Province to the border city of Suifenhe in Heilongjiang, where the tourists would finish their China tour and go back to Russia.

The long-distance trip was supposed to have two drivers drive in rotations. However, there was only one driver on the tourist bus, said the police.

The injured were taken to hospital immediately.

The accident is still under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2008)