Many killed as bus plunges off highway in China

Beijing: State media says at least 15 people have died when a bus plunged off a highway in southwest China.

Xinhua news agency said on Monday the long-distance sleeper bus was carrying 46 passengers when it drove off a highway in Guizhou province and crashed down an 80-metre slope.

Xinhua said ten passengers were hospitalised with serious injuries, and seven were in critical condition.

The report said the bus was traveling from Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province, to Yanhe, a rural county in Guizhou's northeast.

The cause of the crash was not known, it said, and the bus was not over its capacity.