Eight people died and five were injured in a bus-truck collision in north China's Shanxi Province Thursday, a local government office said Friday.

A 22-seat shuttle bus carrying 34 people collided head-on with a truck with two people aboard at about 7:30 a.m. in Zuoquan County, Jinzhong City, the county government public affairs office said Friday.

The two drivers and six passengers died despite treatment. The five injured were in stable condition.

Traffic police said the overloaded bus was taking employees of a local coal company to work. They said bad driving by both vehicles might have caused the accident, which was still under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2009)