Passenger van accident kills 13 in central China

The van, which had a maximum capacity of nine passengers but was carrying 16, hit the rear of the truck while on an expressway in Henan province at 2:40 am (1840 GMT Wednesday), the traffic management bureau of China's Ministry of Public Security said on social media.

It was driving on the G40 expressway in the city of Nanyang when it "rear-ended a semi-trailer truck travelling ahead of it", the bureau said on the Weibo social media platform.

The ministry said it "attached great importance" to the incident, "immediately dispatching a working group to Nanyang led by a traffic management bureau official to direct investigation and handling work."

Deadly traffic accidents occur frequently in China due to lax safety standards and widespread disorderly driving.