The death toll in a road accident in central China's Hubei Province has risen to 26. All the thirty one injured passengers have been sent to hospitals. Three of them are in critical condition.

The accident happened in the early hours of Monday morning on the Xiantao section of the Suizhou-Yueyang expressway, which links Suizhou in Hubei with Yueyang in adjacent Hunan Province.

A spokesman from Hubei traffic police headquarters says a long-distance coach was hit by a truck from behind and ran off the road. The coach then overturned and caught fire. The casualties are from both the coach and the truck. Police are still investigating why and how it happened.