A family of seven drowned in a doomed attempt to rescue their daughter from a reservoir after they all fell in while forming a human chain to pull her out.

Tragedy struck while the family - four adults and three teenage children - were visiting a grave at a nearby cemetery in the city of Shantou in southern China's Guangdong province.

One of the children, a 17-year-old girl, decided to wash her hands in the reservoir, but toppled in.

The rest of her family made a desperate bid pull her from the water by forming a human chain despite none of them being able to swim.

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Tragedy: Rescue workers and onlookers try to save a family of seven who drowned in a reservoir while trying to rescue their daughter who had fallen in while washing her hands during a day trip to a nearby cemetery

But their efforts resulted in all of them falling into the water and drowning.

By the time rescue workers arrived they could only pull the lifeless bodies from the reservoir.

Rescue worker Shing Tan said: 'It appears none of them could swim but they were determined to try and rescue the young girl.

'We had a call from villagers who spotted the tragedy from the other bank but who were unable to help as the family had vanished into the water by the time they got there.

Macabre: The bodies of five members of the family are laid on a tarpaulin after being pulled from the reservoir

'Medics who later arrived at the scene could only confirm the deaths of all those involved.

'In the end, the teenage girl and her two younger siblings, a boy aged 15 and a girl of 13, as well as her parents and aunt and uncle all died.'

Officials responsible for the area where the reservoir is located pledged a full enquiry into the tragic incident to see what could be done to prevent something similar happening again.

The family had been visiting the grave as part of Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival where the living are expected to pay their respects to their ancestors by visiting their tombs.