24 people have died in a crash in Eastern China when a truck smashed into the back of a bus carrying commuters in this morning's rush hour.

These are the first pictures we're receiving from the scene in Suzhou city, in Anhui province. The truck was carrying a load of sand when the accident happened. Rescue workers were still reach the truck driver in the mangled wreckage.

You can see from the stills where the truck shot off the road after the crash. Police still don't know what caused it all and there's no confirmation on exactly how many passengers were on the bus at the time.

According to the Chinese state news agency, badly maintained roads and poor driving habits result in around 70,000 deaths a year and 300,000 injuries.