At least seven people are dead and five are seriously injured after a head-on collision in a city in east China's Zhejiang Province early on Wednesday, according to police.

The accident occurred in Shangyu City shortly after midnight, when a bus, with an unknown number of passengers aboard, and a coal truck crashed.

A police spokesman said the injured had been taken to hospital, where about 30 were being treated for minor injuries.

The police are still investigating the cause of the accident.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2008)