China road accidents kill 21, injure 25 | GEO | LIVE GEO NEWS | GEO NEWS | GEO TV

 BEIJING: At least 21 people were killed -- including 14 schoolchildren -- and 25 injured in two car accidents in China on Monday, one of which involved over 100 vehicles, state press reported.

The 14 children died when the three-wheeled vehicle in which they were travelling plunged off a road in central Hunan province early Monday, Xinhua news agency said.

Xinhua earlier said nine children were killed and one was missing in the accident, in Hengnan county.

Later it reported that the missing child was found dead, while four other children died after being taken to hospital. Six others were injured in the wreck.

In the second accident, seven people were killed and 15 injured during a pile-up involving over 100 vehicles on a fog-shrouded highway in southwest Guizhou province, Xinhua said in a separate report.

Visibility was less than 50 metres (yards) on the road when the pile-up occurred. Following the accident, traffic on the highway backed up for 20 kilometres (12 miles), the report said.

China's roads are among the most dangerous in the world, with traffic laws widely flouted.

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