GUIYANG - Five people died, two were injured and one was missing after a van fell off a cliff in Southwest China's Guizhou province, rescuers said Sunday.

The van, with seven people on board, lost control and plunged off a 50-meter cliff into a pond in a village of Sanhe township of Zunyi county around 9:30 am Saturday, after being scratched by a truck from the opposite direction.

Rescuers brought ashore the van on Saturday afternoon, and they found that eight people including the seven in the van and one passer-by fell off the cliff.

The two injured have been hospitalized and the rescuers are still searching for the missing.

The cause of the accident is being investigated.