Related: Four Killed, Seven Missing in Tidal Current

At least eight people were killed and three are missing after a rising tide swept away more than 30 people in east China's Zhejiang Province on Thursday.
　

Rescuers had retrieved the bodies of five men and three women by Friday afternoon, said Qi Yong, a maritime squad officer of the public security bureau of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang.
　

Six of the victims were identified as 15-year-old boy Liu Tao from southwestern Chongqing Municipality; Yu Xiaoyao, 21, from Shaanxi Normal University in northwestern Shaanxi Province; Lin Xiaobing, 33, from eastern Jiangxi Province and his nine-year-old daughter; Li Yajun, 20, and a female named Li Li, both from Jiangxi.
　

All the dead and the missing were believed to be Chinese.
　

The search resumed at about 7:30 p.m. on Friday after it was halted due to strong winds and thunderstorms in the area in the afternoon.
　

The death toll could rise if more people reported missing relatives or friends, said Xie Liewei, deputy head of Jianggan District, Hangzhou City.
　

Xie said the public security department was still checking the numbers as many people at the site had come alone or without telling others of their whereabouts.
　

An office has been set up to register more reports from family members.
　

Twenty-two people were rescued after the tidal bore swept away more than 30 people who were either swimming in the river or walking along a T-shaped levee near the mouth of the Qiantang River on the outskirts of Hangzhou.
　

The tides on the Qiantang are a peculiar phenomenon and always attract spectators. Scientists say that the trumpet-shaped mouth of the Qiantang River helps form the tidal change, which can be as high as 3.5 meters.
　

The tragedy occurred on Thursday afternoon when the tide was moving at a normal speed of 15 kmh, which appeared "mild" from a distance, said Zhou Guangming, a tide expert.
　

However, its power reached up to four to seven tons per cubic meter when it rushed into the trumpet-shaped levee.
　

Most of the victims and the missing were from other parts of China as local residents were usually aware of the danger and never risked their lives in the river, said Zhou.
　

Experts attribute the formation of powerful tidal currents in the river in recent years to the accumulation of silt washed down in the Yangtze River, the change of the water course, the strong wind that always accompanies the tide and floods upstream.
　

The worst tidal accident occurred on Oct. 3, 1993, when the tidewater swept 86 people from the levee, leaving 19 dead, 40 missing and 27 injured.
　

The local government has hired a group of local people to patrol the river and warn people of the danger of incoming tides.
　

Ren Baojin, an elderly man who worked for about 10 years as a "tide shouter", said he and his colleagues shouted out when the tide was approaching, but many people, especially those from other regions, often ignored the warning.