At least seven people died and one was injured after a truck overturned on a busy Beijing ring road Tuesday, police said.

Police would not say how many vehicles were involved in the accident, which happened at 5:30 p.m. near Wufangqiao, on the east Fifth Ring Road.

The truck driver surnamed Liu from east China's Shandong Province said he turned left and collided with three cars in the opposite direction when he saw a minibus ahead of him put on the brake suddenly.

The accident killed six and injured two at the scene. The injured had been taken to hospital and one person died at hospital.

As of 9:14 p.m., the scene had been cleaned up and reopened to traffic.

Municipal government officials had arrived at the scene and investigation into the cause of the accident was underway, police said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2009)