Five killed in south China road accident

Five people have died after a car collided with an oil tanker and caught fire in China's southernmost province of Hainan early on Thursday morning.

The accident happened at about 00:15 a.m. on a highway in Ding'an County when the car rear-ended the oil tanker carrying 20 tonnes of petrol. A blaze broke immediately after the collision, according to the county transportation bureau.

Four adults and a child in the car were scorched to death at the scene, said the bureau.

A total of 136 firefighters in 19 fire engines responded to the emergency and the fire was put out at 5:05 a.m..

The cause of the accident is being investigated.