HAIKOU - Two people died and three were injured in a collision involving three heavy trucks on an expressway in China's southernmost Hainan Province early Saturday, witnesses and local authorities said.

The accident happened at 2:15 a.m. on the western section of Hainan Ring Expressway, an orbital expressway that encircles the Hainan Island.

Four people were trapped in the seriously damaged cabins, of whom two were confirmed dead at the scene and the other two were critically injured.

Rescuers took pains to dismantle the wreckage of the trucks in order to get the victims out of the cabins, and it was 5:43 a.m. when the two survivors were rescued.

The accident started with a rear-ending involving two heavy-loaded trucks, but a third truck failed to brake in time and crashed into the rear-ender.

A medical worker who had come with the ambulance to give first-aid at the scene was also injured in the accident.