Death toll rises to 11 in bridge accident

China will provide every assistance and convenience to relatives of passengers from South Korea involved in a bus crash in northeast China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

The death toll rose to 11, and 17 people were injured, Foreign Ministry spokes woman Hua Chunying said. The injured were transferred to the First Hospital of Jilin University in Changchun after being treated initially at the Ji'an hospital. Each one was accompanied by a volunteer interpreter.

Two of the seriously injured are being treated in the neurosurgical intensive care unit.

The South Korean government sent an emergency team to China on Thursday. The team of 11 officials will assist the families of the victims with funeral arrangements and help them return to South Korea.

The accident happened on Wednesday when the bus, owned by Xinshiji Tour Agency, went off a bridge on a highway that links Yanji, Jilin province, with Dandong in the neighboring Liaoning province.

It was carrying 26 passengers, a Chinese driver and a Chinese tour guide. The driver was among the dead.

The South Korea Foreign Affairs Ministry said that the bus was carrying civil servants who were studying at a school of administration.

At a national tourism security conference on Tuesday in Beijing, Li Shihong, deputy head of the China National Tourism Administration, said 18 tourist-related traffic accidents occurred in 2014, and 95 people died.

Luo Wangshu in Beijing contributed to this story.

Contact the writers through liumingtai@chinadaily.com.cn