BEIJING (AFP, REUTERS) - At least 36 people have died and 36 others were injured in east China after a coach collided with a truck, state media said on Sunday (Sept 29).

The bus was carrying 69 people when it hit the truck on an expressway in eastern Jiangsu province on Saturday morning, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The bus, which was driving north, broke through a barrier dividing two lanes on a motorway and crashed into the truck, which was moving in the opposite direction and carrying three people, Reuters reported citing police from the city of Yixing in Jiangsu province.

The accident was caused by a flat tyre on the bus, according to a preliminary investigation, Xinhua said.

Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced.

According to authorities 58,000 people were killed in accidents across the country in 2015 alone.

Violations of traffic laws were blamed for nearly 90 per cent of accidents that caused deaths or injuries that year.