Photo taken on Jan. 21, 2019 shows a truck accident scene in Hai Duong province, Vietnam. A truck on Monday afternoon hit a group of local people crossing a national road to attend a funeral in Vietnam's northern Hai Duong province, killing nine people and injuring three others, local media reported. (Xinhua/VNA)

HANOI, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- A truck on Monday afternoon hit a group of local people crossing a national road to attend a funeral in Vietnam's northern Hai Duong province, killing nine people and injuring three others, local media reported.

The accident on national road No. 5 killed seven people instantly, two others died later in hospital, and local police are investigating its cause, online newspaper VnExpress quoted provincial authorities as reporting.

"Most of the victims were elderly people who were crossing the road," the newspaper quoted a witness as saying.

In 2018, Vietnam saw 18,232 traffic accidents which killed 8,125 people, seriously injured 5,124 people and slightly wounded 9,070 others, posting year-on-year declines of 9.2 percent, 1.9 percent, 8.3 percent and 20.8 percent, respectively, according to the country's Traffic Police Department.