Two people died and one was injured after a rear-end collision between vehicles caused a spontaneous ignition at the Guizhou section of the Lanzhou–Haikou Expressway on Friday afternoon, China Central Television reported.

The accident happened at about 12:37 pm at a highway section in Xifeng county, Guiyang, capital of West China's Guizhou province, when 17 vehicles were involved in a crash, which resulted in the spontaneous combustion of three vehicles, including a bus, a mini-van and a cargo truck.

Passengers trapped in the burning vehicles were rescued half an hour later and sent to hospital.

An investigation into the causes of the accident is still ongoing.