CHANGSHA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a series of traffic accidents on an expressway in central China's Hunan Province on Saturday evening has risen to eight, local authorities said Sunday.

Three more bodies were recovered at the scene Sunday, said traffic police in Hunan.

The four accidents, which involved 23 vehicles, including 13 trucks, nine cars and one minibus, happened around 7:10 p.m. Saturday on the Erenhot-Guangzhou expressway in the city of Yiyang, police said.

Eleven were injured, including one suffering from serious but no life-threatening injuries.

Police earlier put the number of the injured at 18, but they said seven were not accounted later as they left the scene themselves with very slight injuries.

An initial investigation blamed wet and slushy road conditions in a rainy weather and drivers' errors for the accidents.