YINCHUAN - Nine people were confirmed killed and eight seriously injured Saturday after a bus crashed through a road barrier and fell off a ravine in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, local fire fighters said.

The accident occurred at about 8 pm on a state-level road in Longde county of Guyuan city when the bus with 17 people aboard overturned and fell into a ravine, the regional fire fighters brigade said in a press release.

A total of 53 fire fighters were involved in the rescue operation and they were still checking if there were more deaths and injuries.

The bus, registered in Ningxia's neighboring Gansu Province, has a capacity to carry 41 passengers.

Other details were not immediately known.