Photo: news.china.com

Jingxi city in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Friday reported that 11 people, nine of whom were Vietnamese nationals, were killed in a road accident involving people who had illegally crossed the border into China.

At about 6:30 am on Friday, a vehicle carrying 14 people overturned off a cliff and fell into a pond in Siming village of Jingxi city in Guangxi. Preliminary investigation revealed that nine of the 11 dead were Vietnamese nationals, one was Chinese and the remaining one person's identify is yet to be verified.

The public security authority preliminarily determined it to be a case related to illegal border-crossing.

One of the survivors is the off-road vehicle's driver, who is a Chinese and has been helping foreigners cross the border into China illegally. The other two survivors are Vietnamese nationals. All of them have been detained by the public security authority for questioning. Local public security departments are doing their best to investigate the case, according to the release.

The Chinese side has notified related information of the Vietnamese nationals to the Vietnamese Consulate General in Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi region, said the release.

Global Times