At least seven people were killed and nine others were injured in a road accident in central Ukraine on Monday, local authorities said.

The accident occurred at 6:50 a.m. local time (0450 GMT) in Poltava region in central Ukraine, when a truck collided with a passenger microbus carrying 16 people on the Kiev-Kharkov highway, the State Service for Emergencies said.

Following the collision, the microbus plunged into a ditch, killing seven people on spot, while nine others were injured and taken to a local hospital.

Authorities said the accident could have been caused by the carelessness of the truck's driver who lost control of his vehicle, which veered into the opposite lane and crashed into the microbus.

The exact cause of the crash is yet to be determined. An investigation is still underway.

At least 560 people have been killed in over 3,100 road accidents in Ukraine so far this year. Careless driving, speeding, driver fatigue and poor road conditions are usually blamed.