Xinhua (People's Republic of China)
March 6, 2008

LHASA - Twenty-six people were killed and nine
were injured after a truck crashed at a roadside
hill in southwest China's Tibet autonomous region
on Saturday, local police said.

Police investigation showed that the accident,
which occurred at about 11:50 am in Sangri county
in south Tibet's Shannan prefecture, was caused by brake failure.

The truck with 35 people aboard was heading for
Samye Monastery, a famed Tibetan Buddhist
monastery in Zhanang county, at the time of the accident.

The nine injured people have been rushed to the
Shannan Prefecture People's Hospital for treatment.

Tibet's Party chief Zhang Qingli, who is in
Beijing attending China's annual session of the
National People's Congress, the country's top
legislature, has urged all-out efforts to treat the injured passengers.

He also ordered local authorities to learn
lessons and step up safety checks to prevent such tragedies from happening.