Five people were confirmed dead and seven others rescued after a boat capsized in a river in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Wednesday, the local government said.

A wooden boat carrying two men and 10 women capsized in the Kaidu River in Xinjiang's Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Bayingolin around 10 a.m. Wednesday, the prefectural government said in a press release.

Eleven of the passengers were identified as peasants who had been employed to do farm work on the other side of the river, the press release said. The 12th passenger was the boat's owner.

The press release stated seven of the passengers had been rescued and five bodies had been retrieved as of 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Investigators said the boat had deviated from its normal route before it capsized, but the exact cause of the accident is still unknown.

The Kaidu River is 525 km long and flows into Bostan Lake, China's largest inland freshwater lake.