NANNING - The death toll in a coach-truck crash on a fog-shrouded national highway early Wednesday morning in the south autonomous region of Guangxi has risen to seven following the death of a hospitalized victim, local authorities said Wednesday afternoon.

The other nine injured remain hospitalized in a hospital in Nandan county in the city of Hechi, where the accident occurred. Three of them are in critical condition, according to the county's publicity department.

Rescuers sent by the Hechi municipal fire department said the coach veered off the highway into a 10-meter deep roadside ditch after the crash around 6 a.m. on a section of the No. 210 national highway in Nandan.

Local authorities have confirmed that the 44-seat coach, registered in neighboring Guizhou province, was carrying 47 people, including five children under the age of three. Six people died on the spot.

No one aboard the truck, registered in Chengdu, has been reported as sustaining serious injuries.

The accident site had been cleared as of 2:30 pm and all the injured sent to hospital.

Hundreds of vehicles, mainly cargo trucks, were crammed bumper to bumper for 2 km as a result of the accident, according to local traffic police.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.