Forty-seven people were killed and four others injured in two separate expressway collisions in China on Sunday, making it another bloodiest day in years.

The first accident occurred at around 2:18 a.m. in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, when a fully-loaded double-decker sleeper rammed into a methanol-loaded tanker, triggering a fire that instantly engulfed both vehicles and leaving 36 people aboard the bus dead, including the bus driver.

Only three people escaped from the bus and two of them suffered serious burning injuries. The two drivers of the tanker, who were not hurt in the collision, were taken into police custody.

In another accident, a van carrying 12 people crashed into a heavy-duty truck Sunday afternoon on an expressway in southwest China's Sichuan Province, leaving 10 people on the van dead at the scene and another two badly injured.

The two injured were sent to a nearby hospital and one died at 3:30 p.m. after rescue efforts failed. The truck was at roadside for tire repair when the van rear-ended with it, according to local work safety authorities.

The State Council has sent an investigation team to Yan'an to look into the accident and oversee the rescue efforts, according to the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS).

The team, headed by SAWS deputy director Sun Huashan and Vice Minister of Public Security Huang Ming, called an on-site meeting in the afternoon, vowing to investigate and affix the responsibility for the accident.

In the meantime, lessons must be drawn from the accident so that such tragedies will not reoccur, said an official with the investigation team.

Local governments both at provincial and municipal levels will ascertain the identities of the deceased as soon as possible, an official with the Shaanxi provincial government said.

Further investigations into the two accidents are under way.

Traffic accidents on China's roads result in about 70,000 deaths and 300,000 injuries each year, according to the Ministry of Public Security. Speeding, fatigue, drunk-driving and poor road conditions are usually blamed.

(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2012)