Fourteen people were killed and more than 40 others were injured on Sunday when a bus crashed into two other vehicles and rolled over on a highway near Zibo, Shandong province.

The accident happened at 11:44 am on the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway, Xinhua News Agency reported.

According to Wang Jiguo, an official with Zibo traffic police, the bus first collided with a car before crossing the carriageway and crashing head-on into another bus traveling from Jinan, the provincial capital.

The vehicle, which had earlier set off from Jinan in Shandong, then rolled into a ditch by the side of the road.

Six people died at the scene, and another eight died later at hospital, China Central Television reported.

Traffic has been resumed on the section of the highway and the accident is under investigation, authorities said.

On Sunday, another pile-up on the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway near Luliang in Shanxi province, killed one person, China National Radio reported.

Eight cars crashed in a tunnel, causing a traffic jam that stretched more than five kilometers.