Highway collision in China kills 38

Policemen and people examine the scene of a burnt-out bus and trucks after an explosion following a traffic accident on the expressway in Longhui county in south China's Hunan province Saturday July, 19, 2014. A truck loaded with flammable liquid collided with the bus on a highway in southern China on Saturday, killing more than dozens of people. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

A truck loaded with flammable liquid collided with a bus on a highway in southern China on Saturday, killing at least 38 people.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency said the truck rear-ended the bus around 3 a.m. on the Hukun Expressway in Hunan province, with the truck’s driver and passenger among the dead. Five people were also injured.

Xinhua said the flames destroyed a total of five vehicles before being extinguished five hours later.

Images broadcast on Chinese state television showed both vehicles severely burned and what appeared to be passenger belongings scattered on the road.