Minivan crash kills 5, injures 8 in Southwest China

CHENGDU -- Five people were killed and eight others injured after an overloaded minivan crashed into a residential building in Southwest China's Sichuan province, local police said Wednesday.

The accident occurred at around 6:55 am on Tuesday, when a small van carrying 13 people, nearly double its approved capacity of seven, veered off the road and slammed into a roadside house in Luzhou city, according to police officers in the city's Jiangyang district.

The impact damaged the building and caused part of it to collapse, though no one was inside at the time, police said.

The injured are in stable condition. The cause of the accident is being investigated.