HAVANA – Seven people were killed and 40 others injured Monday when two trucks carrying passengers collided on the highway linking the western Cuban provinces of La Habana and Pinar del Rio, authorities said.

Nine of the injured people are in serious condition and some had to undergo surgery at the Abel Santamaria Hospital in Pinar del Rio, the official AIN news agency reported.

The accident occurred when one of the trucks hit the other, which was parked with an attached trailer.

Given the scarcity of public transport in Cuba, people use old cargo trucks, most of them dilapidated, to transport passengers, but these vehicles get into frequent accidents, causing numerous fatalities and injuries. EFE