Nine villagers were confirmed dead and another two remained missing after they fell into a river in east China's Jiangxi Province while watching a rowing race on Sunday, the traditional Dragon Boat Festival.

The 11 villagers were in a crowd on the bank of a river in Tonggubao Village of Wuni Town in Yugan County when they slipped at around 5 p.m., the county's safety administration said Monday.

Witnesses said the river bank had become muddy and slippery after it had rained.

The Jiangxi provincial government ordered an all-out search and rescue effort, and sent an emergency task force consisting of doctors, public security personnel and safety officials to the site.

The Dragon Boat Festival, known in Chinese as "Duanwu," falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It features dragon boat races and eating of "zongzi," an angular glutinous rice ball wrapped in reeds or bamboo leaves.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2008)