Qiantang River tidal waves have killed eight people and left three others missing in this capital city of Zhejiang Province, government officials said on Friday.

A wave hit a levee at the mouth of the river at 4:31 PM on Thursday, sweeping away 33 people, most of them tourists.

Twenty-two people were rescued in an overnight search operation, which is still going on, according to a task force of the city's Jianggan District government.

Eight bodies, five men and three women, have been recovered, Xie Liewei, deputy director of the Jianggan District government, said.

"Search operations will continue," Xie said. "We will also launch an education campaign to boost public awareness of safety."

Among the dead were a 10-year-old girl and a 21-year-old university student.

Those who were washed away were either swimming or walking along the levee at the Qibao section of the Qiantang River, about 20 km southeast of Hangzhou, according to the task force.

"The possibility of finding anyone alive is very, very slim," a marine police officer said.

"The three missing people, I fear are dead," the police officer said. He declined to give his name.

The trumpet-shaped mouth of the Qiantang River, experts say, helps generate extraordinary tidal waves, which can reach a height of 3.5 m.

The spectacular tidal waves have attracted people from across the country since ancient times, and there is an annual Tide-Watching Festival in late summer.

"The natural wonder is sometimes a curse as every year people are killed," Zhang Jinyuan, a villager in Qibao, said.

More than 70 people have lost their lives to Qiangtang River tidal waves since 1998 and many more have been injured, Zheng Yiren, an official with the Hangzhou marine public security bureau, said.

The worst accident occurred on October 3, 1993, when 19 people were killed and 27 injured, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Search operation was briefly interrupted on Friday due to bad weather.

(China Daily August 4, 2007)