Five people, including two children, were killed in four car accidents in China's Hunan province on Saturday night (Dec 8).

One of the children was aged between one and three, and the other was around 10 years old, local police said.

Eighteen other people were injured and 22 vehicles were involved in the accidents which all occurred at around 7.10pm within a 2km stretch on the Erenhot-Guangzhou Highway in the city of Yiyang, The Beijing News reported.

According to Chinese news reports, the highway was frozen over due to poor weather conditions. Vehicles on the expressway were unable to brake effectively on the icy roads, which led to the accidents.

Local police and firefighters, as well as officials from Anhua County, were called upon to conduct emergency rescue services, Xiaoxiang Morning News said.

Of the injured, one was severely injured, six suffered bone fractures, and 11 had minor injuries. None of them were in critical danger, the authorities told Xiaoxiang Morning News.

Videos taken by local residents showed that a truck was among the vehicles involved in the series of accidents.

The truck had lost control on the icy road and collided directly with a car that had stopped on the highway.