URUMQI - Five people were killed and another four injured in a three-vehicle collision that occurred on a highway in Northwest China early Tuesday morning, local authorities said.

The accident happened at 3:10 am on the Hami section of the G30 Highway in Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. A truck collided with a car and then hit a coach, causing the latter to overturn, an official from the Hami branch of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said.

The car burst into flames after being struck, killing its driver and four passengers. The injured include three passengers in the coach and the truck driver, who have been admitted to a local hospital, the official said.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is under way.