Xinhua News Agency said the accident Saturday in Jiangxi province involved three trucks and a passenger van. [break]
It said the pileup was triggered when a truck rear-ended another vehicle, then flipped into a lane of oncoming traffic.
Twelve people were declared dead at the scene and five others died in a hospital.
Serious traffic accidents are common in China due to lax driving habits, overloaded vehicles and bad road conditions.
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