A traffic accident killed at least eight people and seriously injured two others on Saturday morning in Zhuxi County, central China's Hubei Province, sources with the local government said.

The accident occurred at about 7:30 AM on Saturday when a mini-sized station wagon carrying 10 people, including the driver and 9 students from a local middle school, lost control at a turn on the mountain highway and fell off a 124-meter cliff into a river.

The driver and a student were killed on the spot, and six others died later either during the rescue operation or in hospital. The other two severely injured are still under emergency treatment in hospital, the government sources said.

Local government officials rushed to the accident site to organize the rescue efforts, and the cause of the accident is under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2006)