CHENGDU - A court in southwest China's Sichuan province heard a murder case on Monday that left 19 people dead and 15 missing two decades ago.

Thirty-three people were prosecuted for intentional homicide, and another eight people for offenses like affray or picking quarrels, according to the Intermediate People's Court in Guangyuan City.

In 1994, people rushed to Bailongjiang River in Qingchuan County of Guangyuan to dig for gold. As people competed for the gold, a group of workers headed by Li Daiming and another group led by Li Hong and Zhang Jianwei fought with weapons, the court said.

Li Hong and Zhang were killed at the scene. Scores of workers were chased to the riverside and jumped into the water. Seventeen people drowned and another 15 are still missing, according to the court.

Li Daiming and other suspects ran away after the incident.

Public security departments at county and city levels established a task force to investigate the case.

In 2011, the main suspects including Li Daiming were captured. The task force traveled more than 100,000 kilometers to provinces of Gansu, Zhejiang, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Chongqing Municipality and areas in Sichuan, seizing 147 people related to the murder case.

The court said the verdict will be released at a later date.