Rescue workers are seen at the site where a bus carrying students plunged into a lake
© REUTERSRescue workers are seen at the site where a bus carrying students plunged into a lake
At least 21 people were killed when a bus carrying students to their annual college entrance exam plunged into a lake in southwest China on Tuesday, authorities and state media said.

The bus crashed into a guardrail and veered into Hongshan Lake in Guizhou province, leaving 15 others injured, the local emergency management department said in a statement.

The incident took place around noon in Anshun city and eyewitnesses said the bus' passengers included students who were on their way to sit their gruelling "gaokao" examinations, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Security camera footage shared on social media by CCTV showed the vehicle veering across at least five lanes - cutting into oncoming traffic - to plough through barriers on the other side of the road.



All those injured in the crash are being treated in hospital. Local authorities pledged an investigation into the cause of the accident.

As of last Friday, there were 119 people dead or missing nationwide as a result of widespread rains storms, while the emergency ministry estimated economic losses to be in excess of 40 billion yuan (£4.57 billion).

In the central city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus epidemic first erupted in December, a record-breaking 426 millimetres (16.8 inches) of rain fell on Sunday, the official China Daily reported, and authorities were using giant pumps to remove water from the flooded roads.


A man standing on a flooded street on the banks of the Yangtze River after heavy rain in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province
© AFPA man standing on a flooded street on the banks of the Yangtze River after heavy rain in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province
Guizhou, Anhui, Hunan and Hubei provinces were expected to record 250-280 millimetres (10-11 inches) on Tuesday, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

With nearly 11 million students set to sit their college exams, the weather agency warned parents to heed forecasts and prepare school journeys carefully.

Exams in some parts of Anhui province were postponed as a result of the worst flooding for 50 years, the local government reported.

The city of Qianjiang in the central province of Hubei became the first city to issue a Level I flood response alert on Monday after roads and farmland were inundated.

Authorities in Hubei and neighbouring Hunan province have also issued orange flood alerts - the second highest - with some rivers 2-3 metres higher than warning levels, according to water ministry data.