(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-08-04 20:40

Rescuers in east China hauled four more bodies from the ocean Saturday, bringing the total confirmed death toll from a killer tide to 12, state-run Xinhua news agency said Saturday.

In this file photo, tourists dash away as a sudden tide hit the bank of Qiantang River in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province. The levee on the Qiantang River river mouth is well known as a dangerous area for huge tides, which have reached as high as 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) in the past.[File]

Thursday's accident happened as tourists watching the tides at the Qiantang river mouth were engulfed by a huge wave and dragged out to sea.

Xinhua reported that the victims discovered so far included six men and six women. At least one of the fatalities was a child, earlier reports indicated.

The total death toll was difficult to assess, since some of the victims might have been visiting on their own and therefore may not have been reported missing, Xinhua said.

The levee on the Qiantang River mouth in Zhejiang province is well known as a dangerous area for huge tides, which have reached as high as 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) in the past.

The tides there have attracted spectators for the past two millennia, and it is the scene of an annual Tide-Watching Festival in late summer.

The worst accident on the Qiantang River occurred in October 1993, when 19 people died after being swept out to sea, according to Xinhua.