Dramatic video captures explosive moment two trucks collide on motorway in China

Dramatic footage shows the moment a truck transporting paint crashed into a parked van on a highway in eastern China and triggered a violent explosion.

The huge blast on Monday 17 July ripped off the top of both vehicles and sparked an enormous blaze on a motorway near Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province. No one was injured in the crash.

Police are investigating the cause of the explosion. The large truck that clipped the side of the parked vehicle was transporting highly flammable products including large quantities of coating paint and paper. The parked van was reportedly carrying steel products.

Samples from both vehicles were sent to the laboratory for further investigation.

Fire crews fought against the giant inferno for hours, closing off the entire highway. They reopened one lane to traffic after an hour and a half.

"The explosion went off just at the collision. I didn't even see how it happened. I just heard a big boom and it had occurred," the van driver, who only identified himself as Zhang, told Chinese news outlets.