The wreckage of the bus, which rushed out of the Tianjin-Jixian expressway in Tianjin at the night of July 1, 2016. [Photo from Sina Weibo]

TIANJIN - Twenty-six people have been confirmed dead after a coach rushed out of an expressway Friday night in north China's Tianjin City, according to local authorities.

The accident occurred when the coach carrying 30 people broke the guardrail at the Baodi section of the Tianjin-Jixian expressway and fell into a ditch, said a statement from the city's emergency response office.

The driver lost control of the vehicle due to a flat tire, it said.

The four survivors, including a ticket seller, a copilot and two passengers, sustained slight injuries.

The coach was en route to Shenyang, capital city of northeast China's Liaoning Province, from Xingtai City of north China's Hebei Province.

A Xinhua reporter saw on the spot that the coach was pulled from the water and bodies of the victims were retrieved.