An accident involving a passenger bus and a truck in the early hours of Thursday has left 11 people killed and nine seriously injured in the northern state of Chihuahua, according to police.

A report by the federal police said that at about 4:50 am local time, the two vehicles collided head-on on the highway between the cities of Gomez Palacio and Jimenez.

The death toll included the two drivers and nine passengers on the bus, which had been travelling from Pijijiapan in the southern state of Chiapas to the city of Ciudad Juarez on the U.S. border, added the report issued by the federal police's regional security division.

Emergency rescue teams used a ladder to enter the bus through a window to help the wounded, as the front of the vehicle was completely destroyed in the shock.

In a press conference, Chihuahua's coordinator of civil protection, Virgilio Cepeda, said that 19 of the passengers were taken to local hospitals, with nine in a serious condition.

source: Xinhua