(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-29 15:56

Sangzhi -- Thirteen people have been confirmed dead and 10 were injured in a traffic accident in central China's Hunan province, officials said on Saturday.

Rescuing work had been finished, rescuers said at the site on early Saturday.

The accident occurred at 9:40 am on Friday in Tankou Village, Sangzhi County, when a coach, heading from the southern city of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, to the southwestern Chongqing Municipality, smashed into a van and then plunged into a river 15 meters below the road, a county government spokesman said.

According to the local police, the coach crashed the van when overtaking and plunged due to its own misoperation. The coach, licensed to carry a maximum of 45 passengers, had 33 people aboard when the accident occurred.

Rescuers recovered 11 bodies and saved 20 people on Friday, ten of whom are now in stable situation in hospital.

More than 100 people, including local government officials and villagers, took part in the rescue.

The family members of the victims are on their way to the site.