'Cries of help' from capsized ship with 458 on board in China
Rescuers have heard survivors yelling for help from inside a capsized cruise ship on China’s Yangtze River after it went down overnight with 458 people on board, most of them elderly.
Twelve people survived and at least five people are confirmed dead, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Search teams heard people calling out from within the partially submerged ship about 12 hours after it went down late yesterday during a windy storm in Hubei Province. Stormy weather is hindering the rescue.
TV footage showed rescuers in orange life vests on the upside-down hull, with one of them lying down tapping a hammer and listening for a response.
The boat was travelling from Nanjing upstream to the south-western city of Chongqing when the incident happened.
The official Xinhua News Agency earlier quoted the captain and chief engineer, who were both rescued, as saying the ship sank quickly after being caught in a cyclone.
The two men were under police custody, CCTV reported.
The four-level ship had been carrying 406 Chinese passengers, five travel agency employees and 47 crew members, and most of the passengers were 50 to 80 years of age.
The ship sank in the Damazhou waterway section, where the river is about 50 feet (15 metres) deep, and drifted about 12 miles (three kilometres).
The Yangtze is the world’s third-longest river and sometimes floods during the summer monsoon season.
Several rescue ships were searching the waters, and divers had been deployed. The broadcaster said rescue personnel were trying to determine whether they could right the sunken ship.
The channel said seven of the survivors swam to shore and alerted authorities to the sinking.
More than 50 boats and 3,000 people were involved in search efforts.
The Eastern Star measured 251-feet long (76.5 metres) and 36 feet wide (11 metres) and was capable of carrying a maximum of 534 people, CCTV reported.
It is owned by the Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corporation, which focuses on tourism routes in the popular Three Gorges river canyon region. The company could not be reached for comment.
CCTV reported that six inches (150 millimetres) of rain had fallen in the region over the past 24 hours. Local media reported winds reached 80 mph (130 kph) during the accident.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang is reported to be travelling to the accident site.
President Xi Jinping has ordered a work team of the State Council, the country’s Cabinet, to rush to the site to guide the rescue work.
