A bus carrying a group of South Koreans fell off a highway bridge Wednesday afternoon in northeastern China, killing 7 South Koreans, the Chinese driver and a Chinese guide, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The report did not say what caused the bus to fall off the bridge or how many people were injured.

South Korean officials said the 26 South Koreans on the bus were part of a 140-person delegation of mainly South Korean government employees.

They were in China to tour historical sites, including places where Korean independence fighters resisted Japan's colonial rule before the end of World War II, according to South Korean Government Administration Ministry officials.

The crashed bus was part of a six-bus caravan, South Korean officials said.

The vehicle had left the northeastern Chinese city of Ji'an and was about halfway to its destination of Dandong, which borders North Korea, Xinhua said.

Photos circulating online show the bus resting on its top in shallow water underneath the bridge.