LA PAZ, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and around a dozen injured Friday in a head-on collision between a passenger bus and a trailer truck in the eastern Bolivian department of Santa Cruz, local police said.

       The accident occurred when one vehicle strayed into the opposite lane where a passenger bus was traveling from the town of Puerto Suarez to the department's capital city, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commander of the Robore Police, Major Pedro Silva, told reporters.

       There was "a head-on collision due to lane invasion," he said, noting that one of the vehicles was a high-tonnage cargo truck, and the other was an interprovincial bus.

       The truck driver was among the fatal victims. The injured were taken to hospitals in Robore, and four with serious injuries were taken to Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

       The accident was under investigation, he said.