BAKU, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and seven others injured when a minibus overturned after colliding with a passenger car on a highway in the western Azerbaijani district of Shamkir on Wednesday, the country's health authorities said.

The driver and two passengers of the car, including a 3-year-old child, died on the spot. Seven others were admitted to a local hospital with different injuries, with one of them being in a critical condition, health authorities said.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.

In another accident in Ujar, a district in central Azerbaijan, a passenger of a truck was killed after it rammed into a digger.

Car accidents have become frequent in the country in the past few days, claiming a total of nearly 10 lives and injuring more than 15.