East China road accident investigation report released

NANCHANG, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- An investigation report concerning a major road accident that occurred in east China's Jiangxi Province earlier this year was released on Saturday.

The accident took place on Jan. 8 in the province's Nanchang County when a truck hit a funeral procession, killing 20 people and injuring 19 others.

According to the investigation team of the Jiangxi provincial government, on the one hand, the accident occurred because the heavily oversized and overloaded truck was overspeeding and it did not take effective safety measures when encountering the funeral procession on the road, leading to continuous collisions due to reduced braking performance and prolonged braking distance.

On the other hand, the accident occurred because the people carrying out a roadside offering to the deceased were burning paper money and setting off firecrackers which generated smoke, impairing visibility for the driver.

The organizers and attendees of the funeral lacked safety awareness and did not implement any safety protection measures as they illegally occupied the road, according to the investigation.