Twelve people were killed and 36 others are missing after a river ferry capsized Thursday in Linyi County, north China's Shanxi Province.

The ferry was carrying 65 passengers -- all local villagers bound for flooded land along the Yellow River to pick cotton around 8 am Thursday.

Sources with the local government said 12 bodies have been found and some 36 others are still unaccounted for.

Seventeen people were rescued successfully, some of them were able to swim to safety.

No further details are available at the moment. The local government has been going from village to village to identify the victims and check who may be missing.

Police said the accident was probably caused by overloading, adding that further investigations are under way.

(China Daily September 24, 2004)