URUMQI - Nine people were killed and seven seriously injured after a long-distance coach collided with a heavy-duty truck in Hotan in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region early Saturday, local authorities said.

The accident occurred at about 0:20 am when the coach with 33 cotton picking workers aboard crashed with a forthcoming truck on a desert road while traveling from Aksu to Hotan, the Hotan prefecture government said in a statement.

Four coach passengers died instantly and five died later at the People's Hospital of Hotan after medical treatment failed. Another seven were critically injured, the statement said.

Traffic police said snow and heavy fog had reduced the visibility in the area to less than 100 meters. An initial investigation showed the truck was running on the wrong lane at the time of the accident.

The Xinjiang regional work safety officials are further investigating the accident.