Five Chinese, including three geologists, were confirmed dead hours after they were reported missing when the minibus they boarded plunged into a reservoir in Zhejiang Province Wednesday morning, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.

The bodies of the five fatalities were recovered nearly seven hours after they went missing in a reservoir in a remote village in Suichang County in the city of Lishui, the report said.

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The five fatalities were among the seven persons - three geologists and four local villagers - who were onboard the ill-fated minibus on their way to conduct an official survey in a nearby village.

The Xinhua report did not provide details on how the minibus plunged into the reservoir at 9:40 a.m. other than saying that the driver of the vehicle and one of the villagers escaped death and were able to reach shore to report the incident.

After learning of the accident, local authorities dispatched 60 firemen, rescuers and police officers to the scene to search for the missing passengers of the minibus.

The rescuers had to release water from the reservoir and opened a temporary road to access the site as part of their efforts to find the missing passengers alive.

Their efforts, however, proved futile as rescue drivers found all the missing people at 4:30 p.m. All of them were dead, authorities said. The rescue operation lasted for nearly seven hours.

Authorities were still questioning the driver to determine the real cause of the accident. The names of the fatalities have not been disclosed but based on the details of the accident, the dead included three geologists and two villagers.

TagsChina Bus Accident, China Accident, Zhejiang Accident