XUZHOU - The death toll in Monday's school bus crash in east China's Jiangsu Province has climbed to 15, with three more students confirmed dead in hospital early Tuesday, the local government said.

At least eight other children are in hospital with injuries, it said.

The bus had 29 students on board when it overturned in Fengxian county of Xuzhou city at 5:40 pm.

It was trying to avoid a pedicab when it veered off the road and fell into a ditch, the county government said in a press release late Monday. 

The bus belonged to a primary school in Shouxian township, it said.