CHANGSHA, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll has risen to eleven after a ferry boat carrying dozens of students sank on a river in central China late Friday afternoon, state-run media reported on Saturday.

The accident happened shortly after the ferry boat departed from Tangtianshi in China's central province of Hunan at around 2 p.m. local time, carrying 45 people, most of them elementary and middle school students who were heading home for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

According to reports, the ferry boat capsized at around 3.20 p.m. local time on the Fuyi River, around 250 kilometers (155.3 miles) southwest of Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan.

As of 6 p.m. local time, the Communist Party of China committee chief in Shaoyang County, Jiang Yaohua, said search and rescue teams had recovered eight bodies from the river. However, the death toll increased to eleven on Saturday morning while officials confirmed that all the victims were students from two elementary and middle schools located in Tangtianshi.

In addition to the eleven fatalities, 16 others were reported injured while emergency teams are still searching for three missing people. Among the 45 on board were two boat owners, Yin Xixiang and Yin Xinquan, who were reportedly placed under police custody after the accident.

Witnesses said the likely cause of the accident was overloading. However, sources told Xinhua that the vessel was blocked by iron cables used for dredging, causing the accident. Local authorities are still investigating the incident, as there has been no official word regarding its cause.

China's Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional holiday which is also known as the Moon festival, which falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calender. Families usually reunite during the holiday, which is scheduled for September 12 this year. The schools chartered the ferry boat to transport the students across the Fuyi River and back to their homes.