(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-24 14:42

Guangzhou -- Rescuers have retrieved five dead bodies and are continuing to search for three people missing following a fatal ship collision in south China's Guangdong Province.

A ferry was hit by a ship carrying sand at 9:30 am Friday on the Zhujiang River near Hedong Bridge in the provincial capital Guangzhou. The ferry sank with all the 34 people on board, of whom 26 were saved and eight were missing.

Two of the dead were women, said an official with the Guangdong Maritime Affairs Bureau.

Rescuers retrieved the ferry at 10:20 pm Friday.

No apparent damage was done to the sand-carrying ship.