Seven people died and another ten were injured when a bus crashed in central China's Hubei Province, sources with the local work safety administration said on Monday.

The accident occurred at around 6:40 a.m. Monday on the highway linking provincial capital Wuhan and Shiyan, a transportation artery connecting central and west Hubei, when a bus, registered in Hubei, hit the median strip, and overturned.

Three passengers died when they were thrown out of the bus. Four more passengers were hit and killed by another bus three minutes later when they were trying to crawl out of the vehicle.

Ten injured passengers were sent to hospital for treatment.

The highway reopened to traffic on Monday. Traffic police are investigating the accident.

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2008)