A traffic accident has killed three people and injured two others on a highway in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, local police said Tuesday.

The accident occurred at approximately 12:40 PM Monday on the highway from Korla to Urumqi when a car ran into a truck, the police said.

The driver of the car and a passenger aboard got out of the car in time but injured, when they moved to rescue the other three passengers, the car burst into fires and the three trapped were burnt to death.

The injured have been hospitalized and cause of the accident is being investigated, the police said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2005)