The family of each victim is to receive 100,000 yuan (13,157 U.S. dollars) from the Yugan branch of the PICC Property and Casualty Company Limited.

The bodies were cremated on Wednesday. They included two children, five women and two men, ranging in age from three to 82, police said.

The oldest victim, Peng Jihou, was returning home after visiting his son in the county town. The youngest victim, three-year-old Gong Zhixiang, was with his grandmother Wu Chang'e, 47, heading home to the Jiulong Township near the bus destination. Wu has also died.

The other minor was 12-year-old Huang Yangyang from nearby Xinfeng Township. His father Huang Gewei said his son went with two cousins to visit his grandmother in Heshan, the bus destination. The two cousins were pulled out of the water and survived.

The accident occurred around 11:00 a.m. Monday on the Xinjiang River in Yugan County, Shangrao City of eastern Jiangxi, when a bus registered in Jiangxi as E79373 with a seating capacity of 19 was boarding the ferry.

Rescuers said the bus drove on to the stationary ferry, but, instead of braking, carried on moving and plunged into the river. It is not yet known why the driver failed to stop.

The bus was heading from the downtown area to the suburbs of Heshan Township. Its driver, Yu Xinchun, 31, is among the dead.

Five people were rescued after the accident.

The number of victims is likely to rise as according to witness, more people were aboard when the accident happened, although some passengers had descended from the bus prior to the accident. The exact number of passengers still remains unknown.