CHANGSHA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A pile-up involving four vehicles killed eight people and injured two others in central China's Hunan Province early on Friday, local traffic police said.

    The accident took place at about 1:26 a.m. on an expressway near Xiangtan City, when two trucks, a car and a long-distance bus collided, a police spokesman said.

    All the eight dead -- six men and two women -- were in a Nissansedan. They were killed on the spot, the spokesman said.

    A female driver from a Hubei-registered truck was injured slightly, while a male driver of the same truck suffered serious head injuries. Both were taken to a nearby hospital.

    The accident temporarily snarled traffic on the expressway, which links Beijing and the southern city of Zhuhai.

    Speeding and driver fatigue probably caused the pile-up, the police spokesman said.

    Local police are further investigating the accident, he added.