At least six people were killed and 42 others injured as their bus collided with a truck in southwest China early Monday.

A 45-seat passenger bus carrying 48 people bumped into the rear of a truck on a section of an expressway in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region at about 3:39 a.m. on Monday.

The bus was badly distorted, stranding all the passengers for more than five hours before rescuers pulled them out.

Six people were killed on the spot, and 42 injured passengers, including four seriously injured, were sent to five local hospitals.

The bus was en route from the southern province of Guangdong to Guizhou Province in the southwest via Guangxi when the accident took place.

Cause of the accident is being investigated.

(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2007)