Johannesburg - South African police say a truck carrying workers collided with another truck, killing 23 people and injuring nine.

Police spokesman Abie Khoabane tells the South African Press Association that the driver of a larger truck lost control and pushed the truck carrying the workers off the road in the northeast of the country.

Khoabane said both trucks rolled into a ditch and emergency workers were still searching for passengers trapped under the vehicles.

It was not immediately clear how many workers had been in the truck.