Five people were killed and 12 others injured on Wednesday when a bus collided with a passenger van in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, local police said.

The accident occurred at 3:25 p.m. near the Shajingzi section on a highway in Aksu City. According to a witness surnamed Yang, the van bumped into the bus at the crossroad.

The bus rolled over on its side and the van was "severely damaged", she said.

Four people in the van were killed at the scene and the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. One died en route.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2008)