At least 12 people were killed and eight others injured when their bus fell into a ravine in central China's Hubei Province on Friday, the local work safety authority said.

The accident occurred at 7:15?AM on Friday when a 32-seat passenger bus with 20 people on board fell into a 20-meter-deep ravine in Chongyang County, Xianning City.

Four of the eight injured suffered serious wounds.

Officials with the local government and traffic authority have rushed to the site of the accident. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2006)