A Chinese seaweed farmer has been jailed for five years and six months for his role in the drowning of 19 people, including his own wife, who were swept away by a rising tide, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

The swift sentence by a court in the eastern province of Jiangsu came just over two months after the April 15 accident.

The victims included 17 workers that Liu Songquan had hired to harvest seaweed who died when the overloaded tractor in which they were travelling became stuck in mud during an unusually high tide, Chinese media said at the time.

Also drowned were Liu's wife and a woman who had rushed with her husband to try to rescue the trapped workers.

Citing the court's verdict, Xinhua said Liu had failed to organise the timely evacuation of his workers, and had continued to load the tractor with seaweed and nets as the waters rose.

The official agency did not say if any officials had been punished for the way the accident and rescue effort was handled.

Seaweed is a popular food across Asia, especially in China, Japan and in North and South Korea. It is also used as a food supplement for livestock.

Nineteen mainly Chinese migrants drowned while collecting cockles during a fast-rising tide in northwest England in 2004.