A bus plunged into a gorge in southwest China's Sichuan Province Saturday, killing 15 people and injuring another one, local authorities said.

The accident took place at about 3:15 p.m. on a mountain road in the Hongya County, in Meishan City, a spokesman with the Sichuan Provincial Work Safety Administration said.

An initial investigation showed that 16 people were aboard the bus when it crashed, the spokesman said.

Local authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, he added.