BEIJING - TWENTY-ONE people were killed and 12 injured in north-west China on Tuesday when a truck loaded with coal and a crowded long-distance passenger bus collided, state media reported.

The accident occurred on a national highway in the city of Kuqa in the remote Xinjiang region, Xinhua news agency said.

Police suspect driver fatigue might be the cause of the accident and ruled out terrorism, Xinhua reported.

Xinjiang is a vast area bordering central Asia with about 8.3 million ethnic Muslim Uighurs, many of whom say they have suffered decades of repression under communist Chinese rule.

China has blamed Uighur 'terrorists' for recent deadly unrest there.

China's roads are among the most dangerous in the world with more than 81,000 people killed in accidents in 2007, an average of about 223 a day, according to official Chinese figures. -- AFP