Thirty-four people were killed and 12 injured when a bus and pickup truck collided on a highway in southern Algeria on Wednesday, prompting a huge fire, the Algerian Civil Protection service said.

The collision, which occurred around 4 a.m. in Tamanrasset province in the Sahara Desert, resulted in both vehicles being engulfed in flames, according to the civil protection service. All passengers were caught in the blaze, it said in a statement. The cause of the crash was being investigated.

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Images posted online showed emergency workers carrying victims in body bags and the charred remains of the bus and truck, which were entangled with each other. The driver's side of the truck was crushed by the impact.

The collision came about two weeks after another bus accident left eight people dead and 17 injured in Bordj Bou Arréridj in northern Algeria.

More than 300 people died across Algeria in over 11,000 traffic accidents between May 1 and July 11 alone, the official APS news agency reported earlier this month.