A heavy crane rear-ended vehicles stopped at a red light in Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei Province, damaging multiple cars and injuring 13 people, local police reported in a statement on Thursday night.

The injured were promptly sent to the hospital for treatment, with three of them sustaining serious injuries, but none was in life-threatening condition, the statement said.

Photo: Screenshot from the WeChat account of the Zhangjiakou Public Security Bureau

According to the statement, at around 5:16 pm on Thursday, the heavy crane collided with vehicles waiting at a traffic light on the S231 provincial road section in Zhangjiakou. 

The driver responsible for the accident, a 30-year-old man surnamed Jia, has been put under control after the police received the report. Preliminary investigations and tests show that the accident was caused by a malfunction in the vehicle's braking system. Drunk driving and drug driving have been ruled out, and the driver's blood sample has been sent for further testing, the statement said.

Currently, the affected section of the road has resumed traffic, and the investigation into the accident, along with follow-up actions, is actively ongoing, according to the statement.

Global Times