PLEASE NOTE, THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL.<br/> ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION<br/> An overloaded tourist bus has crashed on a highway in southwest China on Wednesday (January 4), killing at least 18 people, according to state media reports.<br/> The bus with 57 passengers on board plunged into a nine-metre-deep ditch along an expressway linking eastern Zhejiang Province to southwestern Sichuan Province, the Chinese official Xinhua News Agency said.<br/> Fifteen people were killed instantly. Three died later in hospital.<br/> More have been injured.<br/> The capacity of the bus was 53, but it was carrying 57, including four children.<br/> The rainy and snowy weather may have contributed to the accident. Local officials also allege speeding and inappropriate driving played a part.<br/> It's the second bus crush in China in the new year.<br/> On Tuesday a heavy truck hit a coach on the expressway in central Hunan Province, killing 13 people and injuring more than 40, according to Xinhua.<br/> Chinese lunar New Year travel peak is yet to come between January 8 to February 16.<br/> About 2.85 billion people are expected to take to the roads during that time, said Xinhua.
