MATAMOROS, Mexico—Authorities in Mexico say a tractor-trailer has collided with a truck carrying members of three families, killing at least 16 people in the nation's north.

Sergio Sisbeles, security spokesman for the northern state of Coahuila, said Sunday that the accident occurred Saturday evening on a non-toll highway between the community of Viesca and Matamoros.

The spokesman says the people in the truck were from Matamoros and were traveling to a girl's traditional 15th birthday celebration in the rural community of Congregacion Hidalgo.

Sisbeles says a preliminary investigation shows that the tractor-trailer crossed into the opposite lane and collided with the truck. The driver of the big rig fled the scene of the accident.