Four students were killed and another five were injured when a farm truck suddenly ploughed into a group of people walking along a roadside in central China's Henan Province on Tuesday evening, the local authority said on Wednesday.

The accident happened at around 6 p.m. in Liangwan Village, Xinyang City. The students were on their way home after class, a Xinyang municipal government official said.

Two students died instantly and two others died in hospital. The five injured were receiving treatment in Xinyang Municipal Central Hospital, he said.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2008)