A violent fight between a passenger and the driver caused the bus to plunge into the Yangtze River in Chongqing, killing at least 13, local authorities said on Friday.

An argument between a passenger and a driver led to the bus crash that killed at least 13 people in Chongqing on October 28, local authorities said.

A 48-year-old female passenger, surnamed Liu, had missed her stop and got into an argument with the bus driver, a 42-year-old man surnamed Ran, at around 10:08am, the information office of Wanzhou said on its Weibo account. Things got heated between them and Liu struck Ran, who was then driving the bus on the No. 2 Yangtze Bridge in Wanzhou District, to retaliate.

With the incident turning scrappy, Ran lost control of the bus, causing it to veer onto the wrong lane, collide with an oncoming car before breaking through the road fencing and flying off the bridge, the investigation found.

A video from the bus shows Liu standing next to Ran and arguing with him. She is then seen hitting Ran twice with her cellphone while Ran grabs her arm and hits her on the neck.

The investigation team said the duo greatly endangered public safety and guilty of committing a crime.

There were 15 people, including Ran, on the bus when the incident happened. Thirteen bodies have been retrieved from the river so far. The wreck of the bus was pulled out of the water by a floating crane at 11:30pm on Wednesday.