Fifty-four ethnic pilgrims including four children returning from Lhasa were killed Tuesday when a truckoverturned in Northwest China’s Qinghai Province.

The accident was blamed on overloading, faulty brakes and driver error, said Wang, an official with the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture government of the province.

The driver, who escaped with slight injuries, had an invalid driving licence, Wang said.

Altogether 104 Tibetan passengers were sitting or standing in the open flatbed of the truck when the vehicle turned over.

All locals from Ganzi and Aba - Tibetan areas in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, the victims have not all been identified.

"Many rural people rent trucks like this to go on pilgrimages because it’s cheaper than renting a bus," Wang said.

Fifty passengers died immediately when the truck turned over on a highway near the Kuola Mountain. Four others died in hospital.

Another 31 are being treated at the local Renmin Hospital, nine of whom are said to be in a serious condition.

The accident is the worst Yushu has seen in recent years, said prefecture official Xie.

He said the pilgrims would not normally have used this particular highway to go home but had perhaps made a detour to a different monastery.

"Relatives of the 54 dead people in 11 counties of Sichuan have been reached," she said.

Officials with the prefecture government have worked around the clock since the accident occurred, said Wang. Zhao Leji, provincial Party secretary, has ordered the prefecture government to deal properly with the aftermath.