The death toll in a vehicle collision accident occurred on a highway section in east China's Zhejiang Province Thursday morning has risen to nine, as police found one more body from the distorted van truck.

The overloaded van bumped into the rear of a heavy haul trailer at around 4:49 a.m. on the highway linking Ningbo and Wenzhou in the province.

All of the casualties occurred on the van. The 3-seat van carried 13 people with five squeezing in the driver's cabin and eight hiding in the carriage compartment.

The accident site remains cordoned off, as police are clearing steel bars dropped from the heavily-loaded trailer.

Cause of the accident is still under investigation.