Eight people were killed and three injured when a van and a truck collided on a highway in Heze City, east China's Shandong Province, early Friday, according to local traffic police.

The accident occurred at 12:57 a.m. at the Heze section of the expressway from Rizhao City, Shandong, to Nanyang city, central China's Henan Province, when the two vehicles, which were both traveling westward, collided.

Traffic police said all the injured had been taken to hospital, but no further details of the victims were available.

As of 4:05 a.m., the expressway had reopened.

Traffic police are investigating the cause of the accident.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2009)