The accident took place in the early morning on Tuesday on an expressway near the provincial capital of Hefei, when a tanker collided into a truck which was preparing for a tyre change in an emergency parking strip. Another parked truck was slammed into the guardrail by the impact of the initial collision, local traffic police said.

Four people died at the scene, while another died in the ambulance on the way to hospital, police said, and the two injured are stable.