Nine people were killed in an early morning accident on Thursday when a truck ploughed into a group of pedestrians in central China's Henan Province.

The accident took place on a northern provincial highway inside Xianzhuang Township, Qingfeng County, around 7:48 a.m.. A truck driver from Xiajin County, Shandong Province, passing through the township suddenly drove into some pedestrians in front of a roadside hotel, said a source of the Public Security Department of Qingfeng County.

The driver, 37, identified only by his surname Chen, is a native of Suliuzhuang Village, Xiajin County.

Details of the accident, including the fate of the driver and the number of injured, are not immediately available.

Local police are investigating the cause of the accident.

(Xinhua News Agency, March 6, 2008)