MAKUENI, Kenya, July 4 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and 20 others seriously injured in a bus-truck crash early Wednesday along the busy Nairobi-Mombasa highway in Makueni county in southern Kenya.

Makueni County Commissioner Mohammed Maalim confirmed the incident and said that the injured have been rushed to a local hospital.

Maalim told Xinhua by phone that a head-on collision happened between a commuter bus and a truck. It happened at around 3 a.m. local time (2400 GMT on Tuesday) near Sultan Hamud area.

"It was a fiery clash. The vehicles collided head-on and then burst into flames," said Maalim, adding that the bus was heading to Mombasa when the disaster struck.