An injured man is treated in the People's Hospital in Danba County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, on July 18, 2010. Twenty six passengers were missing and twelve others were rescued after the bus fell into a river in southwest China's Sichuan Province Sunday morning. (Xinhua/Andouabu) 

Twenty-six are missing and 12 are injured after a bus plunged into a river in southwest China's Sichuan Province Sunday morning, local authorities said.

The bus registered in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture crashed into the Dajin River in Rongchag County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, at 10:15 a.m., Garze's emergency response center said.

The injured were taken to Rongchag County People's Hospital and they are in stable conditions.

The bus was approved to carry a maximum 35 passengers but was carrying 38 people when the accident occurred.

The bus was heading to Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province, from Aba's Maerkang County.

The passengers included three children.

Owned by the Minjiang Transport Company, the bus took a detour to Garze because the highway connecting Maerkang and Chengdu was being repaired, said a source at the Aba prefectural government.

Li Chenyun, vice governor of the province, has rushed to the site of the accident.

Armed police, cadres and local residents are searching for the missing.

Situated in northwest Sichuan, transport infrastructure in Aba and Garze prefectures is underdeveloped due to the mountainous terrain.

Aba Prefecture encompasses Wenchuan, the epicenter of a 8.0-magnitude quake that devastated the region in 2008. Aba suffered serious damage in the quake.