China road accident kills 17: state media

BEIJING: Seventeen people were killed and 17 others injured when a van carrying migrant workers slammed into a trailer truck parked alongside a north China highway early Sunday, state press reported.

The accident occurred near Zhangjiakou city in Hebei province, Xinhua news agency said. The van was carrying 34 migrant workers at the time of the accident, the report said. No other details of the accident were immediately available.

Almost 70,000 people died in road accidents in 2009 -- around 190 fatalities a day -- according to police statistics.