Five people were killed and another seriously injured in a road accident in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Sunday.

The accident took place at around 1 a.m. when a minibus with the six people aboard went out of the road to hit a tree head-on and then fell off the roadbed at a highway bend in Wushi County, according to an official with the local government.

Initial police investigation showed that the driver was driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the official.

One of the passengers was killed on the spot while four others died on the way to hospital. The only survivor was in critical condition at around noon.

Investigation into the cause of the accident is under way.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2008)