Twenty-seven people were missing and eleven others were saved after a bus they were riding in fell into a river in southwest China's Sichuan Province Sunday morning, latest information given by the emergency response center with Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture confirmed.

The center said that the bus, registered in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, fell into Dajin River inside Rongchag County of Garze at 10:15 a.m.

The bus, with an approved capacity load of 35 people but carrying 38 people aboard Sunday, was heading for Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, from Maerkang County of Aba.

The riders included three children, said the center, failing to confirm whether the 23 deaths previously reported in a separate news item were accurate or not.

The bus, belonging to Minjiang Transport Co. Ltd., took a detour to Garze since the highway connecting Maerkang and Chengdu is under repairs, said a source of the Aba prefectural government.

Li Chenyun, vice governor of the province, rushed to site of the accident.

Aba and Garze prefectures, situated in northwestern part of Sichuan, have underdeveloped transport infrastructure due to their mountainous terrains. Aba Prefecture, which houses Wenchuan, the epicenter of the 8.0-magnitude quake in 2008, suffered serious damages during that powerful quake more than two years ago.

Rescuers are searching for the missing.