Nine people were killed and nine others injured Tuesday in a bus-train collision in central China's Hubei Province, the local railway authority said.

The accident happened at around 6:18 p.m. when an unregistered mini-van collided with a train heading from Yichang City for Wuchang City on the Changjing Railway, according to the railway administration of Wuhan, the provincial capital.

Nine people in the mini-van died at the site, the nine injured, including four badly wounded, have been sent to a local hospital.

No one onboard the train was injured.

No other details are available at this time.

An initial investigation showed that the mini-van was trying to pass a pedestrian intersection that is off-limits to vehicles when it crashed with the train.

Railway officers and police were rushing to the site for further investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2009)