A tractor-trailer plowed into a number of people on a road in China's inland province of Jiangxi early on Sunday. State-run China Central Television says 19 were killed and 20 others injured.

The accident took place in a village outside Nanchang City before 1 a.m. on Sunday.

Many of the victims are reported to be local villagers.

A local media outlet said the villagers had been heading to a crematorium before dawn to avoid possible crowds there.

The death toll linked to the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be rising in China, with long lines of people at crematoriums.

xinhua