Salvagers have retrieved two more dead bodies from a river in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, bringing the death toll in Friday's road accident to 15, the local rescue headquarters confirmed Saturday.

Rescuers said among the dead were 10 men, four women and a one-year-old girl.

A bus carrying 24 people veered off a highway linking Tibet's regional capital Lhasa with the Gonggar Airport at 10:00 AM Friday and plunged into the Lhasa River.

By Saturday, nine people have survived, including the driver.

The bus is owned by a private passenger transport company in Tibet.

Investigation is going on, but the local traffic police said the accident was probably caused by a mechanical failure.

(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2006)