Ten people were killed and 18 others were injured when a passenger-carrying flatbed vehicle crashed into a minivan Thursday afternoon in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, local authorities said.

The accident occurred at about 3 p.m. Thursday near southwestern Xinjiang's Shule County, some 1,500 kilometers from Urumqi, sources with the county's Communist Party of China committee said.

Seven people died on scene while three others died on their way to the hospital. The other 18 injured people were currently receiving medical treating at local hospitals.

The Party committee did not identify the victims.

Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the accident.