PHOENIX -- Nine suspected illegal immigrants were killed and 10 others injured after a vehicle transporting them crashed in the southwestern US state of Arizona on Thursday, authorities said.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety said the crash occurred on a stretch of desert highway near the town of Florence, 63 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Phoenix at around 8.30 am (1530 GMT).

Officials said the dead and injured had been traveling in a GMC four-wheel-drive vehicle. Television footage of the wreckage showed the roof covering the rear end of the vehicle almost crushed flat.

The injured victims were being airlifted to hospitals across Arizona, the ADPS said.

A statement from the ADPS said the victims were suspected illegal immigrants being ferried by people smugglers.

"We have a level of suspicion that the passengers riding inside this vehicle were undocumented aliens in the control of possible human smugglers," a statement said.

The crash occurred after the vehicle left the road at high speed, hit a ditch and rolled over before landing on its roof, spokesman Bart Graves said.

Florence is approximately 142 miles (228 kilometers) from the town of Nogales on the US-Mexico border.

The incident revived memories of a June 2006 accident, where nine illegal immigrants among 20 people crammed into a Chevrolet Suburban sport-utility vehicle died following a chase with police near the town of Yuma, Arizona.

The Mexican driver of the vehicle was jailed for life in May after being found guilty of multiple counts of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in death.