Seven people were dead and another three went missing when two boats collided and one of them capsized in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Saturday, the local government said Monday.

A passenger boat capsized and all the 14 people on board fell into the Hanjiang River after a collision with an empty cargo boat off Shuangping village of Chengguan town in Ziyang County at around 1:10 p.m. Saturday. Four of them were saved, safety authorities with the county government said.

By Monday morning, rescuers had retrieved seven dead bodies and were still searching for the three missing.

The safety administration of the local government said both boats were fully registered and neither was overloaded. A preliminary investigation suggested they were getting too close and failed to dodge each other effectively.

The county government ordered all boats to suspend operation for three days after the accident.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2008)