HARBIN, July 4 -- Four students drowned while crossing a river in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, local authorities said on Friday.

The accident happened on Wednesday night, when five students from the Yichun Amateur Sports School in Yichun City were trying to cross the Yichun River near the Yuxi Bridge. Four of them were washed away by the fast flowing water on the spot.

The four students' bodies had been retrieved as of Thursday afternoon. Further investigation into the case is under way.