Seventeen people were dead and four others injured in a road accident in east China's Jiangxi Province Saturday morning, police said.

A semi-trailer truck rear-ended another one and rolled over to the opposite lane on the Shanghai-Kunming expressway at around 4:30 a.m. The truck was then hit by a lorry, which consequently turned on its right side and collided with a passenger van, according to traffic police with Jiangxi Public Security Department.

Twelve people, including nine on the van, died at the scene. Five others died in hospital after treatment failed, police said.

Two people were hospitalized and two others suffered minor injuries.

Police are investigating the incident.