A truck rammed into a group of citizens waiting outside a crematorium in southeastern China, killing 17 of them and injuring 22 others.
The accident happened shortly after midnight in Taoling Village, about thirty kilometers southeast of Nanchang City in Jiangxi Province.
The news agency quoted residents as saying that participants in a ceremony were waiting outside the crowded crematorium.
They reportedly left candles and food on the side of the road, a common ritual for the deceased, as they waited to enter the crematorium the next day.
The cause of the accident is being investigated, reports Xinhua. Many of the victims were from Taoling. Local media reports did not mention whether the crematorium was particularly busy due to the huge wave of infections sweeping China.
After nearly three years of lockdowns, mass testing and mandatory quarantines, China abandoned its strict zero-rate Covid-19 policy on December 7.
Since then, the world’s most populous country has seen a rapid increase in the number of infections, especially among the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases.