BREAKING NEWS

24 people killed, 44 injured in southwest China bus fire

A fire aboard a public bus killed 24 people and left another 44 hospitalized Friday morning in southwestern China, state media reported. Another 10 people escaped the blaze in the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, the Xinhua News Agency said. A Web site run by the provincial government's propaganda department said 44 people were hospitalized, with 27 of those suffering severe injuries. Neither report gave any indication of the cause of the fire, which broke out on a No. 9 city bus at about 8:30 a.m. as it passed near the city zoo.