'Heavy casualties of Chinese tourists' in North Korea bus crash

Many Chinese tourists were killed or injured in a serious traffic accident in North Korea, media reported on Monday.

A tweet by the Chinese state broadcaster - which was later deleted - said more than 30 people had been killed when a tour bus fell from a bridge. 

China's foreign ministry said in a statement that the crash occurred Sunday night in North Hwanghae province, south of the capital Pyongyang.

The foreign ministry offered few further details, apart from saying the accident caused "heavy casualties of Chinese tourists".

The statement also said that embassy personnel in Pyongyang had rushed to the scene and had "launched an emergency mechanism to deal with the case".

State television's main Chinese-language news channel later showed images of a crashed blue bus with its wheels in the air, in footage taken in pouring rain in the dark.

Chinese visitors account for about 80 percent of all foreign tourists to North Korea,says South Korean think-tank, the Korea Maritime Institute.

Many enter North Korea via train through the Chinese border city of Dandong, and there are also flights between the two countries.

North Korean roads are largely poor and potholed, and in many areas they are dirt rather than tarmac.

Additional reporting by Christine Wei