Seven people now are confirmed dead in a bus crash in southwest China's Sichuan Province, authorities said Saturday.

Two people died in the crash Friday and another five overnight after being hospitalized, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

Seventeen people remained hospitalized Saturday, the provincial work safety bureau said.

The bus was carrying 24 people when it left the road and fell nearly 100 feet in Fulong Township in Leshan City, authorities said.

The cause of the accident had yet to be determined.