CHENGDU - Seven people have been confirmed dead and five others have been hospitalized after a pickup truck plunged off a cliff early on Friday in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The pickup, carrying 13 people, veered off a steep mountain road in Yilong County of Nanchong City at about 4:20 a.m., the traffic police arm with the county's public security bureau said in a press release.

It said six people were killed at the scene and another died on his way to hospital.

The five injured passengers are being treated in the People's Hospital of Yilong County. Four of them are slightly wounded but one is in a critical condition, according to the press release.

It said the truck driver was the only one who survived without injuries.

The driver told police it was raining and his pickup had broken down on the slippery mountain road. Shortly after he got out of the truck to check the road condition, the vehicle suddenly slid backward and fell off the cliff.

Police said the exact cause of the accident is under investigation.