Three more corpses were found in a boat accident taking place on Zhuhe River in Ziyang County of northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Friday afternoon, adding to the original report of five deaths.  

The motor boat sank around 3:40 PM Friday while traveling students from Xiangyang Village Middle School to Wafangdian of Shaanxi, according to Ziyang County's Publicity Department.

Boat owner Chen Dachun and 23 students were on board while the accident occurred. By Saturday noon, 13 students were saved and two still missing. Chen survived the accident and was kept under police custody.

On Saturday morning a team of professional rescuers left east China's Shanghai for Shaanxi to facilitate rescue efforts there.

The team is from the East Sea Rescue Bureau under the Ministry of Communications. A batch of advanced positioning and searching equipment were also taken to the accident-hit 16-meter-deep reservoir.

Rescue work is still proceeding and causes are under investigation at press time.

(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2004)