The truck was traveling on the wrong side of the road when it plowed head-on into the bus, bursting into flames on impact, said an official from the Liaoning provincial transport department who gave his surname as Wang.
All three people aboard the truck died immediately, and 29 bus passengers died. The remaining 24 injured passengers were hospitalized, with three in critical condition.
The accident happened at about 3 a.m. as the bus headed from Tianjin city near Beijing to Harbin, the capital of northeastern Helongjiang province.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
