The lights were back on in Qingpu District yesterday following a highway accident the day before that left two people dead and blacked out power for eight hours in Zhaoxing Town.

The accident occurred at around 11:30am on Tuesday when an empty tourist bus operated by the Jingjian Company lost control and knocked down a pair of 10,000-volt electricity poles along the No. 318 National Highway, authorities said.

The bus bumped over a concrete mediate strip and struck two pedestrians on a sidewalk, police said. One man died at the scene, and the other succumbed after being taken to a hospital.

Witnesses said the driver's foot lodged between the clutch and brake pedal and may have contributed to the accident. Traffic police said yesterday they were still investigating the cause.The wreckage caused a serious traffic jam on the highway and adjoining roadways and hampered the power company's repair work, according to authorities.

Power was back on by 8 Tuesday night after more than 30 workers carried out repairs, said Sun Chenggang, spokesman for the Qingpu District Power Supply Company.

Though the first batch of workers arrived at the site within 20 minutes of the accident, the rain and road congestion greatly influenced the progress of the repair work, authorities said.The bus destroyed several important electricity lines as well as damaging the two supply poles, according to the power company.

The blackout affected about half the town's population of 50,000 and more than 40 enterprises, according to the power company.

(Shanghai Daily July 14, 2005)