FUZHOU - Rescuers are searching for five children who went missing after a minibus plunged into a river in?East China's Fujian province, authorities said Thursday.

The seven-seat minibus carrying 10 people went into a 10-meter-deep river around 3 pm Wednesday near the Jiufeng township of Pinghe county in the city of Zhangzhou, said an official with the Pinghe County Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Five people managed to make it to safety but five children, with ages unknown yet, are still missing, said the official.

The official said torrential rain hit the mountainous township from Tuesday to Wednesday, causing the road to become sandy and slippery, which may have partly caused the accident.

A further investigation is underway.