Thirteen Chinese tourists have been confirmed dead and 31 injured in a car accident in Laos on Monday afternoon, according to the Chinese Embassy in Laos.

The injured have been transferred to hotels and hospitals in Northern Laos' Luang Prabang, said the announcement published on the embassy's website. 

The Peace Train medical team of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is participating in the "Peace Train-2019" China-Laos humanitarian and medical joint rescue exercise in Vientiane, capital of Laos, also joined the rescue efforts following the accident on Tuesday morning, the announcement said.

Chinese enterprises' workers and volunteers at the embassy and consular assistance also participated in the rescue, said the announcement, adding that the rescue is still ongoing and the embassy or consulate will follow up and release updated news accordingly.

"Apart from the PLA medical team, several Chinese doctors from Xijing Hospital who are providing medical services in Laos went to the site to help rescue the tourists as well," Li Haibo, chief financial officer with the Representative Office in Laos of Sinohydro Corporation Engineering Bureau 15 Co, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

According to Chengdu Economic Daily, a local Chinese person surnamed Tang said that about 100 Chinese people have joined the rescue effort voluntarily, and many local Chinese people have donated their blood to help. 

"Many local Chinese were driving all the way to the site and brought water and bread, and they attended the rescue until early in the morning," Tang noted.

The Chinese Embassy in Laos released a statement on its website on Monday saying that a bus carrying 44 Chinese tourists was involved in an accident on the way from Vientiane to Luang Prabang. 

According to a report by Jiangsu Television on Monday, the group tour was arranged by Jiangsu Jinling Business International Travel Service, and most of the tourists are middle-aged and from Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province.