Dar es Salaam, Dec 5 (IANS): One person was killed and 19 were injured when their bus knocked a lorry and caught fire in Tanzania's southern highlands region of Songwe, police said on Saturday.

Janet Magomi, the Songwe regional police commander, said the accident happened on Friday at 10 p.m. local time when the bus caught fire after it knocked the lorry in Mbozi district near the border with Zambia.

"The deceased passenger and the 19 injured passengers are citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)," Magomi told a news conference, adding that the bus driven by a Tanzanian national was heading to Lubumbashi in DRC from the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

She said the bus knocked a defective lorry which was parked alongside the road, adding that the lorry was ferrying cement to Rukwa region from Songwe region, Xinhua news agency reported.

Magomi said four of the injured passengers, including the driver of the bus, were in critical condition and they were rushed to Mbeya regional referral hospital for specialised treatment.

She said the other injured passengers were admitted to the Songwe regional government hospital.

Songwe regional commissioner, Omary Mgumba, said the bus and passengers' luggage were reduced to ashes by the fire.