A road accident that happened Saturday morning has left 18 people dead and 22 others injured in southwest China's Yunnan Province, according to local police.

Sixteen of the dead were passengers on a passenger bus, which veered off road after being hit by a truck in the rear.

Two people on the truck carrying watermelon were killed, after the vehicle lost control and fell off road.

The injured, including 19 passengers from the bus and three from the truck, have been sent to hospital.

An initial investigation found that the bus driver slowed down after seeing a coal truck bump the crash barrier on a highway section in Chuxiong prefecture at about 6:40 a.m., but the following truck was getting too close to the bus and hit its rear.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2009)