The students had taken the ferry on Friday to cross a river to bring them from school to their homes for the Chinese mid-autumn festival, traditionally a time for family gatherings.

China sacked three officials on Sunday for the accident, including a deputy chief of the county, Xinhua said.

The ferry, designed to accommodate 14 passengers, had at least 50 people on board when it ran into riverside cables used by sand-dredging ships, Xinhua said.

But Caixin, a respected Chinese magazine, reported on its website that the ferry owner said that between 80 and 90 passengers were aboard the ship when it sank.

Twitter-style microblogs on Chinese Internet portal Sina.com also claimed that “dozens” were killed in the accident and the local government was under-reporting the number.

Traffic accidents involving students in rural China have been rising, partly due to insufficient public spending on school buses.