SEOUL -- Dozens of people were injured on Friday in a rear-end collision involving seven vehicles that took place in the South Korean eastern province of Gangwon, according to Yonhap news agency.

One passenger car, three trucks and three tour buses collided one after another at about 1:27 pm local time (0427 GMT) on a road in Hongcheon county, some 100 km east of the capital Seoul.

A total of 79 people on board of the tour buses, including 72 students, four teachers and three drivers, were wounded. Among them, three were seriously injured.

The students and teachers from a middle school in Seoul were on a school trip.

Three other people aboard the trucks suffered injuries.

The fire authorities and police dispatched 12 pieces of equipment and some 30 rescuers to the scene while investigating the exact cause of the accident.