VIENTIANE - Thirteen Chinese nationals were killed and 31 others injured in a bus crash in northern Laos, the Chinese Embassy in Laos confirmed on Tuesday.

The crash happened on Monday afternoon when a tour bus carrying 43 Chinese tourists, one Chinese tour assistant and two Lao nationals including the driver and a tour guide, skidded off a road between capital Vientiane and the northern town of Luang Prabang, some 180 km north of Vientiane.

All the injured Chinese were sent to hospitals and two of them were in serious conditions, the embassy said in a statement.

The two Lao nationals were slightly injured, the statement added.

The Lao police said the crash was probably caused by a brake failure.

Staff from the Chinese Embassy in Laos and the Chinese Consulate-General in Luang Prabang have arrived in the crash site for search and rescue.

A Z-8G rescue helicopter from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has flown a Chinese medical team and Lao medics to Luang Prabang to help rescue the victims.

The Chinese team is attending the "Peace Train-2019" China-Laos humanitarian and medical joint rescue exercise.