Twenty-two people fell into the river in Yuanjiang city after two ships collided with each other.
Rescuers have rushed to the accident waters and salvaged 15 people, among whom 5 people have been confirmed dead, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Search operations for the missing people are going on.
The accident took place two days after a similar mishap in Hong Kong where 38 people were killed when two vessels collided.
