Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Ship carrying more than 450 people sinks in storm on Yangtze River in China

Ship Carrying More Than 450 People Sinks in China's Yangtze River

Wall Street Journal - ‎4 minutes ago‎
BEIJING—Authorities reported finding 12 survivors and five bodies from a passenger ship a day after it capsized in China's Yangtze River with 458 people onboard amid severe weather.
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Ship Carrying More Than 450 People Sinks in China’s Yangtze River

Search teams have rescued 12 survivors and recovered five bodies

Rescuers look for survivors after a passenger ship carrying more than 450 people sinks in China's Yangtze River. Video:AP
BEIJING—Authorities reported finding 12 survivors and five bodies from a passenger ship a day after it capsized in China’s Yangtze River with 458 people onboard amid severe weather.
Footage broadcast by state-run China Central Television showed rescuers walking along the overturned hull, tapping at it and trying to cut through it with a blowtorch. CCTV earlier reported that rescuers were able to talk with people still inside the ship, which was floating in the middle reaches of the Yangtze. Images posted online by the state-run Hubei Daily showed rescuers pulling a woman onto the top of the hull.
Among the survivors were the captain and chief engineer of the ship, the Eastern Star, who were taken into custody by police, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. An initial investigation found the boat wasn’t overloaded and had enough life vests, Xinhua said.
The captain described the ship as sinking quickly after being caught in a tornado Monday night, Xinhua said.
The ship had set out from Nanjing on Thursday and was heading upriver toward the inland metropolis of Chongqing, plying a route popular with tourists that runs through scenic canyons known as the Three Gorges.
Onboard were 406 passengers, five travel-agency staff and 47 crew members when the ship sank at 9:28 p.m. Monday, state media said, citing Yangtze River navigation administrative authorities. Many of the passengers were from the eastern province of Jiangsu and the adjacent city of Shanghai, state media said, and a large contingent were elderly people on package tours--some in their 80s—organized by a Shanghai travel agency.
Relatives and friends of passengers jammed the fifth floor of an office building that houses river cruise organizer Shanghai Xiehe Travel Agency, asking for information about those onboard. Many said the tour agency hadn’t informed them about the accident and that they only learned of it from media accounts.
“How can they be so irresponsible? There has been no word from them,” said 59-year-old Ji Fumin, who said his wife, his wife’s aunt and a friend were on board the ship.
A person answering a call made to a number posted on the door of Shanghai Xiehe Travel Agency declined to comment, saying the number was only for relatives.
Authorities said they were trying to piece together what had happened to the Eastern Star on Monday night as it passed through Jianli county in central Hubei province. The area has experienced heavy rains in recent days.
In an image taken from China Central Television coverage, a rescue worker listened for a response as he tapped on the hull of the capsized ferry in the Yangtze River on Tuesday. ENLARGE
In an image taken from China Central Television coverage, a rescue worker listened for a response as he tapped on the hull of the capsized ferry in the Yangtze River on Tuesday. Photo: Associated Press
Chen Weiliang, a staff member at the Jianli weather bureau, said a fierce storm hit the area at about the time the boat sank. “It was a mix of rainstorm and strong winds last night when the accident happened,” said Mr. Chen, who said a tornado struck between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. local time Monday. Wind gusts reached up to 80 miles an hour, the Chinese weather bureau said.
The water where the boat sank was around 50 feet deep, according to a report posted to the verified social media account of the state-run newspaper Hubei Daily.
The captain was one of two survivors pulled out of the water before midnight at a pier downstream near the nearby city of Yueyang, state-run newspaper Hubei Daily reported, citing Yueyang maritime safety agency. The agency dispatched staff to the scene, where they rescued eight people.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang traveled to Jianli to direct the rescue efforts, Xinhua said. Photos posted to one of the central government social media feeds showed Mr. Li talking to soldiers and examining the rescue from a boat near where the Eastern Star sank. The mobilization included helicopters, naval scuba divers, and more than a 1,000 paramilitary police, state media said.
Operators of the massive Three Gorges Dam, located up river from the capsized ship, reduced the amount of water released from dam by more than half to aid the rescue effort, Xinhua said citing a water conservation official.

More Than 400 Missing in China Ship Sinking

A passenger ship carrying 458 people, many of them elderly, sank in China’s Yangtze River Monday night; as of Tuesday morning, only 10 had been rescued.

1 of 7 fullscreen
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang looking over a map as he flew to the site of the sinking to direct rescue efforts. Reuters/cnsphoto
Rescue workers, here on the hull of the overturned ship Tuesday, said they were able to talk with people still inside. Chinatopix/Associated Press
An employee of the shipping company, second right, with relatives of crew members in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing Tuesday. Huang Jinhua/Xinhua/Zuma Press
Rescuers gathered near the ship-sinking site Tuesday. The Chongqing Dongfang Shipping Co. ship, named Dongfangzhixing (‘Eastern Star’), sank at around 9:28 p.m. on Monday after being caught in a cyclone in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River. Xinhua/Zuma Press
Rescue boats being hauled down to the river. As of Tuesday morning only 10 people had been rescued, while at least one body had been recovered. That left nearly 450 still missing. Cheng Min/Xinhua/Zuma Press
Relatives of crew members waiting for information at the shipping-company offices in Chongqing Huang Jinhua/Xinhua/Zuma Press
Rescuers preparing to launch another rescue boat. Yuan Zheng/European Pressphoto Agency
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang looking over a map as he flew to the site of the sinking to direct rescue efforts. Reuters/cnsphoto
Rescue workers, here on the hull of the overturned ship Tuesday, said they were able to talk with people still inside. Chinatopix/Associated Press
The Eastern Star is typical of the passenger ships that ply the Yangtze. Built in 1994, it can carry a maximum 534 people and was registered in Wanzhou, a satellite city of Chongqing, Xinhua said.
In May, tourism authorities in Shanghai and neighboring provinces launched a Yangtze River tourism promotion as part of efforts to boost economic growth, according to the China National Tourism Administration.
Write to Josh Chin at josh.chin@wsj.com
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Ship Carrying More Than 450 People Sinks in China's Yangtze River

 


Ship Carrying More Than 450 People Sinks in China’s Yangtze River

Search teams have rescued 12 survivors and recovered five bodies

Rescuers look for survivors after a passenger ship carrying more than 450 people sinks in China's Yangtze River. Video:AP
BEIJING—Authorities reported finding 12 survivors and five bodies from a passenger ship a day after it capsized in China’s Yangtze River with 458 people onboard amid severe weather.
Footage broadcast by state-run China Central Television showed rescuers walking along the overturned hull, tapping at it and trying to cut through it with a blowtorch. CCTV earlier reported that rescuers were able to talk with people still inside the ship, which was floating in the middle reaches of the Yangtze. Images posted online by the state-run Hubei Daily showed rescuers pulling a woman onto the top of the hull.
Among the survivors were the captain and chief engineer of the ship, the Eastern Star, who were taken into custody by police, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. An initial investigation found the boat wasn’t overloaded and had enough life vests, Xinhua said.
The captain described the ship as sinking quickly after being caught in a tornado Monday night, Xinhua said.
The ship had set out from Nanjing on Thursday and was heading upriver toward the inland metropolis of Chongqing, plying a route popular with tourists that runs through scenic canyons known as the Three Gorges.
Onboard were 406 passengers, five travel-agency staff and 47 crew members when the ship sank at 9:28 p.m. Monday, state media said, citing Yangtze River navigation administrative authorities. Many of the passengers were from the eastern province of Jiangsu and the adjacent city of Shanghai, state media said, and a large contingent were elderly people on package tours--some in their 80s—organized by a Shanghai travel agency.
Relatives and friends of passengers jammed the fifth floor of an office building that houses river cruise organizer Shanghai Xiehe Travel Agency, asking for information about those onboard. Many said the tour agency hadn’t informed them about the accident and that they only learned of it from media accounts.
“How can they be so irresponsible? There has been no word from them,” said 59-year-old Ji Fumin, who said his wife, his wife’s aunt and a friend were on board the ship.
A person answering a call made to a number posted on the door of Shanghai Xiehe Travel Agency declined to comment, saying the number was only for relatives.
Authorities said they were trying to piece together what had happened to the Eastern Star on Monday night as it passed through Jianli county in central Hubei province. The area has experienced heavy rains in recent days.
In an image taken from China Central Television coverage, a rescue worker listened for a response as he tapped on the hull of the capsized ferry in the Yangtze River on Tuesday. ENLARGE
In an image taken from China Central Television coverage, a rescue worker listened for a response as he tapped on the hull of the capsized ferry in the Yangtze River on Tuesday. Photo: Associated Press
Chen Weiliang, a staff member at the Jianli weather bureau, said a fierce storm hit the area at about the time the boat sank. “It was a mix of rainstorm and strong winds last night when the accident happened,” said Mr. Chen, who said a tornado struck between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. local time Monday. Wind gusts reached up to 80 miles an hour, the Chinese weather bureau said.
The water where the boat sank was around 50 feet deep, according to a report posted to the verified social media account of the state-run newspaper Hubei Daily.
The captain was one of two survivors pulled out of the water before midnight at a pier downstream near the nearby city of Yueyang, state-run newspaper Hubei Daily reported, citing Yueyang maritime safety agency. The agency dispatched staff to the scene, where they rescued eight people.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang traveled to Jianli to direct the rescue efforts, Xinhua said. Photos posted to one of the central government social media feeds showed Mr. Li talking to soldiers and examining the rescue from a boat near where the Eastern Star sank. The mobilization included helicopters, naval scuba divers, and more than a 1,000 paramilitary police, state media said.
Operators of the massive Three Gorges Dam, located up river from the capsized ship, reduced the amount of water released from dam by more than half to aid the rescue effort, Xinhua said citing a water conservation official.

More Than 400 Missing in China Ship Sinking

A passenger ship carrying 458 people, many of them elderly, sank in China’s Yangtze River Monday night; as of Tuesday morning, only 10 had been rescued.

1 of 7 fullscreen
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang looking over a map as he flew to the site of the sinking to direct rescue efforts. Reuters/cnsphoto
Rescue workers, here on the hull of the overturned ship Tuesday, said they were able to talk with people still inside. Chinatopix/Associated Press
An employee of the shipping company, second right, with relatives of crew members in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing Tuesday. Huang Jinhua/Xinhua/Zuma Press
Rescuers gathered near the ship-sinking site Tuesday. The Chongqing Dongfang Shipping Co. ship, named Dongfangzhixing (‘Eastern Star’), sank at around 9:28 p.m. on Monday after being caught in a cyclone in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River. Xinhua/Zuma Press
Rescue boats being hauled down to the river. As of Tuesday morning only 10 people had been rescued, while at least one body had been recovered. That left nearly 450 still missing. Cheng Min/Xinhua/Zuma Press
Relatives of crew members waiting for information at the shipping-company offices in Chongqing Huang Jinhua/Xinhua/Zuma Press
Rescuers preparing to launch another rescue boat. Yuan Zheng/European Pressphoto Agency
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang looking over a map as he flew to the site of the sinking to direct rescue efforts. Reuters/cnsphoto
Rescue workers, here on the hull of the overturned ship Tuesday, said they were able to talk with people still inside. Chinatopix/Associated Press
The Eastern Star is typical of the passenger ships that ply the Yangtze. Built in 1994, it can carry a maximum 534 people and was registered in Wanzhou, a satellite city of Chongqing, Xinhua said.
In May, tourism authorities in Shanghai and neighboring provinces launched a Yangtze River tourism promotion as part of efforts to boost economic growth, according to the China National Tourism Administration.
Write to Josh Chin at josh.chin@wsj.com

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