BEIJING, July 1 — At least seven South Koreans were killed today in a bus crash in northeastern China, state media said, while a government official in Seoul put the toll at 10.

The bus, carrying 26 South Koreans, swerved off a bridge in the northeastern Chinese city of Jian, Jilin province, falling into a river, a foreign ministry official in Seoul said.

The ministry was trying to confirm the death toll and feared it could rise above 10, the unnamed official told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Official Chinese news agency Xinhua said that seven Koreans were killed, along with a Chinese tour guide and local driver, quoting local government sources.

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Photographs showed the wreckage of the bus, upside down, half in the water, with a bulldozer trying to lift it.

The victims were travelling on a training programme organised by a South Korean government ministry.

A consular official based in the nearby city of Shenyang has been dispatched to the scene of the accident, Yonhap said. — AFP

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