One passenger still missing after bus crash kills 8 in China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-05 15:30

FUZHOU: Rescuers on Sunday continued their search for a passenger missing after a tourist bus crash that left eight others dead and three injured in southeast China's Fujian Province on Saturday.

The accident occurred at about 4 p.m., when a minibus carrying 12 people veered off road and plunged into a 100-meter ravine at a scenic spot on Mount Shiniu in Dehua County, a local government spokesman said Sunday.

"The vehicle was later found to have been stuck by rocks and trees and some passengers were thrown out," he said.

The three injured were being treated at a local hospital, and one of them suffered fractures and was in a serious condition, the spokesman said.

The whereabouts of another person was still unknown. Dense forest and precipitous cliffs made the search very difficult, he said.

The tourists were employees of a company from Fujian's Quanzhou City. The company organized about 50 employees for the trip, and the others were aboard four other minibuses when the accident happened.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident.