FUZHOU - The five children missing since a minibus plunged into a river in southeast China's Fujian Province on Wednesday were found dead on Sunday, local authorities said.

A seven-seat minibus carrying 10 people fell into a 10-meter-deep river around 3 p.m. on Wednesday in Pinghe County in the city of Zhangzhou after trying to avoid a landslide, the county's publicity department said in a statement.

Five people on board the vehicle made it to safety, but five children from the bus remained missing for days before their bodies were retrieved downstream from the accident site.