Six died and 24 were injured after a bus ran off an expressway and fell down onto a riverside in southwest China's Yunnan Province, local traffic police said on Sunday.

The bus with 30 aboard hit guardrails and ran off the expressway in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture at around 3:35 a.m. Sunday, Dali's traffic police said.

Five people died on the spot. One died in hospital. All the injured, including one seriously, have been sent to hospital.

The cause of the accident was being investigated.

(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2008)