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Man killed in China after being run over by truck while taking shortcut across busy road

Lorry driver tried to brake from 40 metres away but could not avoid hitting the cyclist

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The man’s electric bike lies in the foreground at the scene of the accident. Photo: Yangtze Evening News

A man trying to navigate his way across a busy road on an electronic bicycle in central China has been killed after he was run over by a truck.

READ MORE: Road accidents kill more people in China than cancers, Lancet study finds

The accident – which occurred on Sunday at the intersection of a highway and a ring road in Zhengzhou, Henan province – left a deep 40-metre-long skid mark on the road, the Yangtze Evening News reported.

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It is believed that the unidentified man had suddenly swerved on his bicycle while trying to take a shortcut across the road through a narrow gap between two concrete barriers in the centre of the road.

The man was hit by the lorry as he tried to cross this busy road in Zhengzhou. Photo: Yangtze Evening News
The man was hit by the lorry as he tried to cross this busy road in Zhengzhou. Photo: Yangtze Evening News
The driver of the oncoming truck braked immediately upon spotting the man, but could not avoid hitting and running over him.

The man suffered severe injuries and died on the spot, according to the report. He was thought to be aged around 50.

His motionless body remained on the road near the truck until police arrived at the scene. His bicycle was flung some metres away.

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Reporters at the scene observed a woman and her child on another electronic bicycle crossing the busy road nonchalantly even as the man’s body lay at the accident scene.

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