(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-14 11:02

GUIYANG -- The death toll from a bus crash in southwest China's Guizhou Province on Tuesday has risen to 23 after rescuers recovered another body and a seriously injured person died in hospital, the provincial work safety watchdog said on Thursday.

The search ended on Wednesday, but the investigation into the accident was still underway, a source with the Guizhou Provincial Work Safety Administration told Xinhua.

The accident occurred at around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the bus en route from Chishui to Zunyi veered off the provincial highway in Renhua City and down a 50-meter cliff into the Chishui River.

The administration said the crash also left two people seriously injured and 11 slightly hurt.

The bus company's logbook said 33 people boarded the bus in Chishui. The new casualty figure showed at least three more boarded along the way.

Hu Jun, a survivor who is being treated in Renhua City People's Hospital, said most of the bus was inundated by water less than 30 seconds after the crash.

Hu, who was not seriously injured, said he kept calm and managed to rescue three others and his wife.

Survivors recalled the bus was running very fast before the plunge.

It is not immediately known if the tragedy was weather-related. Guizhou has been one of the provinces worst hit by snow and sleet that began in mid-January. Many roads have been closed and power lines destroyed.