Seventeen people died after two dragon boats capsized in southern China.
The boat crews were practising for a race in the Taohua river in the city of Guilin when the accident happened, the city’s fire department said.
The accident happened where two flows of the river converge, causing a powerful current.Television pictures showed one of the long, narrow boats packed with paddlers going over. Another dragon boat arrived at the scene, also full of paddlers, and it too capsized, the pictures showed.
Most of those who went into the river were not wearing life jackets, media reported.
The Guilin fire department said on the Sina Weibo social media site that search efforts ended late on Saturday and 17 people had been confirmed dead. A total of 60 people fell into the water.
The official Xinhua news agency said eight boats and more than 200 people had been deployed to the rescue.
