People are searching the missing. (Photo: People's Daily)

Eleven people have been rescued and 12 others remain missing after two cargo ships collided in the Pearl River in South China’s Guangdong Province early Monday, People's Daily quoted the Guangzhou Maritime Search and Rescue Center as saying.

Rescue operations are still underway.

The collision occurred at around 3 am on Monday morning. A cargo ship carrying yellow sand from Jiangsu Province sank after slamming into another ship from Fujian Province, carrying over 5,000 tons of steel, authorities said. (Compiled by Fang Tian)