Rescuers have retrieved eight bodies from a river in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region after a bus plunged off a bridge on Tuesday morning.

The 19-seat shuttle bus was carrying eight people when it suddenly veered off the 20-meter-high bridge and plunged into Huangsha River, a section of Xiangjiang River, at about 7 a.m., according to the local traffic authority.

The bus, which belonged to a local public transport company, was en route from Quanzhou to the neighboring Hunan Province.

Investigators are trying to confirm the identity of the victims and the cause of the tragedy.

(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2008)