More than 24 hours after the ship went down we are going to bring this blog to a close. There have been no reports of survivors for several hours, and more than 400 people on board remain missing.
Cyclone confirmed
The captain’s claim that the Eastern Star was hit by a cyclone has been backed up by China’s Met Office.
China’s Meteorological Administration said a force 12 cyclone struck the area when the ship went down.
Cyclone stronger than 12 scale happened when ship capsized in #Yangtze River: China's Meteorological Admistration pic.twitter.com/gdeWKfNG1G
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2015
Police intervene as angry relatives demand information
Police were called after angry relatives demanding information stormed the offices of the Shanghai Xiehe Tourism Agency, the company which organised the ill-fated cruised, AP reports.
Huang Jing rushed to the office of the Shanghai Xiehe Tourism Agency as soon as he heard Tuesday morning about the sinking of a riverboat cruise with his brother- and father-in-law and another 456 people on board.
He demanded an official passenger list from the travel company that had arranged the cruise along China’s famed Yangtze River. When the agency didn’t respond, he and other relatives turned on the local government, storming city district offices and cornering officials to ask that they force the cruise company to help them. Police were called in to keep the peace.
“The government must meet its responsibility,” Huang said by mobile phone from a government office where he and other relatives were being kept away from the media. “We need to learn what happened to our loved ones.”
Tuesday’s discontent began when grieving relatives showed up to the travel agency’s office only to find a notice on the door saying the owner could not be reached. They moved onto Shanghai’s Zhabei district where they tearfully demanded help from officials there.
Although an apparent boat passenger list had been circulating on social media, Huang said it only included the names and government ID numbers of passengers who had purchased travel insurance. He said his relatives and others weren’t on that list.
“The government should bring us to Hubei now,” said one relative, who only identified herself by her family name Li. “How can these people (at the travel agency) run away?”
Dozens of police arrived when relatives confronted city officials while shouting, “Are we asking too much? No, we just want information!”
Chinese officials have tried to defuse such suspicions by blending coverage of such disasters with positive stories of government officials jumping into action.
On Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV paired updates on the boat sinking with footage of Premier Li Keqiang appearing to direct the rescue effort from the river site as well as with quotes from President Xi Jinping calling for an all-out rescue effort. The relatives didn’t appear on state media reports about the disaster, which instead described the rescue in extensive detail.
Huang said he still didn’t know whether his relatives were alive or dead.“Nobody has told us anything,” he said. “This is something we can’t accept.”
Updated
The ship was not overloaded and there were enough life jackets for all the passengers, according to this video account by state-funded New China.
It said all those who were rescued were wearing life jackets - a claim contradicted by footage and photographs of a 65-year-old woman being pulled to safety without any safety jacket.
A survivor said the ship went down so quickly that passengers didn’t have a chance to grab life jackets.
New China said that bad weather is hampering rescue efforts and that those leading the operation want to turn the ship upright.
Updated
Tom Phillips has managed to get round the security cordon to speak to volunteers helping with the grim recovery operation.
Villagers like Xu Houwu have been flocking to Yangtze River to help with rescue - and remove the bodies pic.twitter.com/MFgKKcr5P8
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) June 2, 2015
Troops also pouring into the area including military top brass in SUVs pic.twitter.com/pCs8pQJMJb
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) June 2, 2015
Journos & even some rescue workers being turned away frm rescue scene by Chinese police. 1 group prevented frm bringing lights to aid search
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) June 2, 2015
Updated
Foreign journalists are being stopped from reaching a small port near the scene from where rescue operation is being conducted, Tom Phillips reports from the scene.
We were turned away by members of China’s people’s armed police. We also saw them stopping Chinese rescue workers bringing search lights to area to help with night operations.
Tom’s account confirms earlier reports.
Chinese authorities blocking roads and turning reporters away from scene of ship sinking on Yangtze
— franklangfitt (@franklangfitt) June 2, 2015
Most journalists, except those from #China state media, said to be prevented from reaching area where ship sank. https://t.co/YFM3t7PeZ5
— Janis Mackey Frayer (@janisctv) June 2, 2015
China’s state broadcaster CCTV has shown remarkable footage of a woman, later identified as a 65-year-old tourist, being rescued from the hull.
Ship began to tilt after heavy rain
The ship began to list after heavy rain seeped into the cabins, according to the most detailed eyewitness account to date of what happened.
Zhang Hui, the tour guide who survived the disaster told Xinhua that he noticed the ship tilting 20 minutes after heavy rain began soaking cabins.
Outside of his office onboard the ship, rain began to pour and lightening streaked across the sky.
Gradually, the rain began to pound the right side of the ship, with water seeping inside the cabins.
“The water continued to seep through even when you shut the windows,” Zhang said.
Twenty minutes later, passengers began taking their soaked quilts and TVs into the hall. Zhang was leaving his office on the right side of the boat to return to his bedroom on the left side. That’s when he noticed the ship had began to tilt.
The ship shifted as much as 45 degrees, according to Zhang. Small bottles began to roll down the table. Zhang replaced them up, but they tipped and rolled again.
“Looks like we are in trouble,” Zhang recalls telling his colleague. Then the cruise overturned.
Zhang and his colleague only had 30 seconds to grab a life jacket. They grabbed everything they could reach and kept their heads above water as the cruise sank.
Zhang, who does not know how to swim, drifted in the river, holding the life jacket to stay afloat. He had no time to wear it.
He remembered seeing around a dozen people in the water yelling for help.
He added that the ship then sank very rapidly. He said:
“Life jackets are accessible in all of the cruise’s cabins. If it had not happened so fast, a lot of people could’ve been saved.”
The Guardian’s picture desk has put together a gallery of the aftermath of the wreck and the continuing rescue efforts.
AP has revised down the number of survivors.
It had said 18 had survived, it nows says 15 have been brought to safety while we wait for news of three or four others believed to be trapped in the hull.
Some of the survivors swam ashore, but others were rescued more than 12 hours after the ship went down, after search teams climbed aboard the upside-down hull and heard people calling out from within.
Divers pulled out a 65-year-old woman and, later, two men who had been trapped, CCTV said. It said additional people had been found and were being rescued, but did not say whether they were still inside the overturned hull.
Other survivors include the ship’s captain and the chief engineer.
Summary
Here’s a summary of what we know:
-
More than 400 people on board the Eastern Star (or Dongfangzhixing) cruise ship remain missing. Most of the passengers on board were aged 50 to 80 years old.
- The cause of the disaster is unknown, but it occurred during severe thunderstorms. The ship sunk in within two minutes according to survivors. The captain, who was one of the survivors said the ship was caught in a cyclone. He is being questioned by the authorities along with the ship’s chief engineer who also survived.
- Five bodies have been recovered from the stricken ferry, which was carrying 458 people when it went down at around 9.30pm on Monday night not far from the city of Jingzhou in Hubei province. Three bodies were recovered 50km from where the boat capsized.
- Up to 18 people survived including two who had been trapped in the hull after rescue teams heard passengers shouting from within the upturned ship. They include a 65-year-old woman.
- The Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, arrived at the scene to lead the rescue operation. He greeted rescue workers at the shore. Some 1,000 troops were deployed to help the rescue efforts.
- The 406 passengers on board had booked a cruise with Xiehe Travel agency. Its Shanghai offices stayed shut on Tuesday as distraught relatives of the missing gathered outside, many expressing frustration at the lack of information.
- Also on board were five tour guides – one of whom was reported to be among the dead – and 47 crew members. One tour guide survived 10 hours in the water despite not being able to swim.
Rescue efforts are being hampered by poor visibility, according to Edward Wong from the New York Times.
Drove across Yangtze near Yueyang city. Rescue efforts taking place to the west, but couldn't see ship from the bridge. Misty and raining.
— Edward Wong (@comradewong) June 2, 2015
Cloudy & steamy by the Yangtze where rescue efforts are taking place following tourist ship accident. Hundreds missing. Raining as we drive.
— Edward Wong (@comradewong) June 2, 2015
A few more details have emerged about the extraordinary survival story of tour guide Zhang Hui. He owes his life to a life jacket and a branch after surviving in the water for 10 hours despite not being able to swim.
He told Xinhua agency that he scrambled out of a window in torrential rain clutching a life jacket.
“Wave after wave crashed over me; I swallowed a lot of water,” Reuters quoted him telling Xinhua. He said that he was unable to flag down passing ships and finally struggled ashore as dawn broke holding onto a branch.
“It capsized within a minute," survivor Zhang Hui recounts horrible moment #Yangtzeshipsinks pic.twitter.com/kyPbPl6jWp
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2015
The survivors are being treated at the People’s Hospital in Jingzhou City.
Updated
Relatives of those on board continue to express frustration at the lack of information from the authorities and travel companies involved in the cruise, AFP reports.
“I knew of the accident around six o’clock this morning through the news and then came here [to the Shanghai Xiehe Travel Agency] at seven o’clock. We have been waiting here but we haven’t heard any information,” said a man, who gave his surname as Chen.
His sister, 69, and brother-in-law were both passengers.
About 30 or 40 relatives later voluntarily left by bus with officials from the local government, heading to the offices for the district where the travel agency, is located in hopes of getting more information.
Wang Yiping, who was waiting at an office of Shanghai’s Zhabei district government, said her retired father liked to travel. “When he had time, he would go out to travel with a bunch of friends,” she recalled.
A 64-year-old man surnamed Zhang said he spoke to his wife on the boat Monday evening hours before the accident, and she told him about poor weather and heavy rain.
“I usually call her twice a day. But today, after I heard the news... the phone call never got through.”
She had joined a two-week tour for 3,000 yuan ($500), with a schedule taking them from Nanjing to Chongqing by boat, and then returning home from the southwestern city of Chengdu.
“No one has come out to give us any information. Even (Premier) Li Keqiang is already at the site. But here, the travel agency should at least offer us some consolation,” he said.
One of those rescued managed to survive 10 hours in the water by clinging on to some river debris, despite not being able to swim, Xinhua reports.
"I told myself to hold on." Non-swimmer Zhang Hui survived after floating in darkness for 10 hours #Yangtzeshipsinks pic.twitter.com/FdxQe3Yp9g
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2015
Those on board included about dozen former employees of a Shanghai bus, according to AP reports citing a relative of three those on the trip.
Among them, she said, were her elder sister and her elder sister’s husband, both 60, and their granddaughter, 6.
“This group has traveled together a lot, but only on short trips. This is the first time they traveled for a long trip,” Chen said.
Of those on the boat, 97 were from Shanghai.
Almost 17 hours after the ship went down hopes of rescuing more survivors appear to be dwindling.
Tom Phillips in Jianli province says 20 vehicles have been lined up to take away the bodies.
China bracing for worst: police in Jianli tell us 20 vehicles from funeral homes are waiting by wreckage of sunken Yangtze cruise ship
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) June 2, 2015
The cause of the sinking is still not clear. The captain and chief engineer, who were among those rescued and are being questioned by authorities, both reportedly said it had been caught in a “cyclone” and sank within a minute.
One of the survivors has confirmed the speed of the sinking, according to China’s state run news agency.
“It capsized within a minute," survivor Zhang Zhui recounts horrible moment from #Yangtze sunken ship pic.twitter.com/2BOKrTQ5Sj
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2015
The BBC weather service notes that “severe thunderstorms”, recorded in the area, may have contributed to the ship capsizing.
Severe thunderstorms may have caused capsize of Yangtze river cruiser http://t.co/NGRm3ndTlp Peter pic.twitter.com/4pKGtUnV8C
— BBC Weather (@bbcweather) June 2, 2015
Three bodies found 50km downstream
Three bodies were recovered 50km from the wreck of the Eastern Star, according to a state media update which gives an indication of the speed of the water and the scale of the challenge facing recovery teams.
Update: 3 bodies were recovered in Yueyang, Hunan, 50km from the shipwreck location in Hubei Tue #Yangtzeshipsinks pic.twitter.com/ogNyzO8pAZ
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) June 2, 2015
Updated
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has been photographed at the scene meeting rescue workers. His quick reaction to the sinking of the ship contrasts with previous disasters in China, notably the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, when the authorities were criticised for their slow response.
Photos show Premier Li giving on-site instructions on the rescue work in Jianli, Hubei #Yangtzeshipsinks pic.twitter.com/Mh0xhk23EV
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) June 2, 2015
Updated
This Guardian graphic gives a detailed view of the location of the disaster.
Updated
There are harrowing images of relatives desperate for news of their loved ones.
Tom Phillips is heading to the scene along with scores of Chinese soldiers.
Truckloads of Chinese soldiers are on the motorway heading to scene of Yangtze cruise disaster right now. Rain pelting down
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) June 2, 2015
Reports on the number of survivors continue to vary. AP says 18 people have survived, including 12 crew. China’s state news agency says 15 people have been rescued.
Update: 15 have been rescued from #Yangtze capsized ship, another 5 confirmed dead pic.twitter.com/pnMqECTHCu
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2015
The China Daily has published a file copy of an image said to show the Dongfangzhixing or Eastern Star, the ship that sank.
More than a thousand soldiers have been deployed and water up river at the Three Gorges dam is being held back to help rescue efforts, according to state media reports.
Round-up: 14 survived, 5 dead as of 15:10 Tue; over 1,000 troops & 48 vessels dispatched for rescue #Yangtzeshipsinks pic.twitter.com/dor7jDP1Qp
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) June 2, 2015
Three Gorges reservoir controls water discharge to assist rescue work for capsized #Yangtze ship in C China pic.twitter.com/9zC9O8iBXP
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2015
Updated
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has spoken of the “miracle” of the survival of a 65-year-old female passenger, as more details emerge of another survivor.
"Rescued old passenger creates miracle of life," says Premier Li at on-the-spot meeting on sunken ship rescue work pic.twitter.com/t7CpIfids3
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2015
The People’s Daily confirmed a man has also been rescued from the hull.
Update: A man was rescued from the capsided ship at 15:10pm. He is now in good condition. #Yangtzeshipsinks pic.twitter.com/wymQ1gpejB
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) June 2, 2015
AP has more details on the 18 people it says survived the disaster, including six people rescued after getting trapped in the hull.
At least other 12 people are known to have survived, including the captain and chief engineer.
Search teams heard people calling out from within the partially submerged ship when they climbed aboard the upside-down hull, CCTV reported more than 12 hours after the ship went down in Hubei Province about 9:38 p.m.
Divers later pulled out at least one survivor, a 65-year-old woman, from inside the overturned hull, CCTV said. Then, rescuers reported an additional five people rescued, though no details were given on those rescues, which brought the total number people who reached safety to 18. Many of the initial survivors swam ashore.
The broadcaster said five people were confirmed dead.
The overturned ship had drifted about 3km (almost 2 miles) downstream before coming to rest close to the river shore, where choppy waters made the rescue difficult. The location is about 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of the Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan.
The fact that the capsized ship drifted downstream was a good sign for rescuers because it meant there was enough air inside to give it buoyancy, and could mean there are enough air pockets for survivors to breathe, said Chi-Mo Park, a professor of naval architecture and ocean engineering at South Korea’s Ulsan University.
“It all depends how much space there is inside the vessel,” Park said.
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted the captain and chief engineer as saying the ship sank quickly after being caught in a cyclone. The Communist Party-run People’s Daily said the ship sank within two minutes. CCTV said the two were under police custody.
CCTV said the four-level ship had been carrying 406 Chinese passengers, five travel agency employees and 47 crew members. The broadcaster said most of the passengers were 50 to 80 years of age.
Many of the ships passengers started out in Shanghai, taking a bus to Nanjing for the departure to Chongqing. Relatives of passengers gathered in Shanghai at a travel agency that had booked many of the trips, and they later headed to a government office to try to get more information about the accident.
The ship sank in the Damazhou waterway section, where the river is 15m deep, and drifted about 3km (almost 2 miles).
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.
More than 50 boats and 3,000 people were involved in search efforts.
The Eastern Star measured 251 feet long (76.5 meters) and 36 feet wide (11 meters) and was capable of carrying a maximum of 534 people, CCTV reported. It is owned by the Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corp., which focuses on tourism routes in the popular Three Gorges river canyon region.
CCTV reported that 6 inches (150mm) 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 traveling to the accident site. Xinhua reported that President Xi Jinping had ordered a work team of the State Council, the country’s Cabinet, to rush to the site to guide the rescue work.
State media has interviewed the director of rescue operations in Jianli county in Hubei province, near where the Eastern Star cruise ship went down, Tom Phillips reports en route to the scene.
“We got there at about 5am,” the man, named only as Mr Hu, told China News Service. “The were hats and shoes floating in the water.”
Fan Jianguo, a Jianli resident, said villagers had joined the rescue after hearing about the disaster. “A few villagers with experience in underwater rescues came to help.”
The rescue efforts are focusing on five passengers trapped inside the hull around 15 hours after the boat went down, Reuters reports citing state media.
AFP pinpoints the location of the disaster.
Survivors reportedly trapped in upturned hull after ship with 450 on board sinks in Yangtze http://t.co/BnM9JSLmFR pic.twitter.com/x2pCwnIcHt
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) June 2, 2015
Tom Phillips relays news of the youngest passenger on board.
The youngest passenger on Yangtze cruise ship was a 3-yr-old boy from Tianjin, Chinese media now reporting
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) June 2, 2015
Some of the relatives of those on board have been expressing their anger and frustration at the lack of information from the authorities.
Huang Yan, a 49-year-old Shanghai accountant, wept as she told a reporter that she believes that her husband, also 49, and his father, who is in his 70s, were aboard the boat. But she said she couldn’t be sure because she hadn’t seen an official passenger list yet, AP reports.
Yan shouted: “Why did the captain leave the ship while the passengers were still missing? We want the government to release the name list to see who was on the boat.”
Updated
AFP has put together a recent history of boating disasters in Asia, which provides grim context to last night’s tragedy.
- March 2015: A boat carrying more than 200 passengers and crew in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state capsizes, leaving at least 61 people dead.
- February 2015: A ferry accident in central Bangladesh leaves 69 people dead, just a fortnight after five others were killed when an overloaded ferry sank in the country.
- January 2015: Twenty-two people, including eight foreigners, are killed after a tugboat sinks on a trial voyage on the Yangtze.
- October 2014: At least 17 people from a wedding party die after their boat sank on its way to the Indonesian island of Bali. The previous month, another boat sank, leaving 14 others dead.
- April 2014: The Sewol ferry sinks off the coast of South Korea. Of 476 of the mainly school children on board, 304 die. The boat’s captain is later sentenced to 36 years in prison.
- August 2013: At least 71 are killed and 49 go missing when the St. Thomas Aquinas ferry sinks after it collides with a cargo ship near Cebu, Philippines.
- June 2012: A boat carrying around 200 asylum seekers going from Indonesia to Australia capsizes north of Christmas Island. Of the Afghan and Pakistani men and children on board, at least 73 are never found.
- April 2012: A total of 203 people are killed or go missing when a ferry sinks in India’s Brahmaputra river during a storm in the northeastern Assam state.
- January 2009: At least 235 people are killed when a ferry goes down during a storm off the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia.
- June 2008: The Princess of the Stars ferry sails into a typhoon and tips over near the coast of Sibuyan island, Philippines. Of the 850 people on board, only 57 survive.
- October 2001: An Indonesian fishing boat known as the SIEV-X sinks en route to Australia, carrying 421 passengers, mostly Iraqi and Afghan refugees. Of those, 353 die, 146 of them children, in the most deadly incident involving refugees in Australia’s history.
- December 1987: The Philippines ferry Dona Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector: 4,386 die in what is the world’s worst maritime disaster outside of wartime.
Reports are emerging that passengers placed desperate phone calls to loved ones as their boat was enveloped by the storm, writes Tom Phillips on his way to Jianli county.
One of those on board, a 60-year-old woman named as Zhang Lifen, called her husband, who was back at their home in Shanghai, in a panic at around 9pm on Monday.
“It is raining heavily and the wind is blowing like crazy,” she told him, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily.
The whereabouts of Mrs Zhang, who had been travelling with 22 friends, was not clear on Monday afternoon.
Updated
More images have emerged of some of a 65-year-old survivor. Up to 18 people have been rescued, but reports vary. AP says at least 13 people have survived, five are confirmed dead, leaving about 440 still missing.
Update: A survivor was rushed to a local hospital in Jianli at 1:35 pm #Yangtzeshipsinks pic.twitter.com/oxWL7vJUT5
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) June 2, 2015
(This is Matthew Weaver taking over from Claire Phipps).
Updated
There are some newer images coming in of divers and rescue teams on the upturned hull – six people have now been plucked from the stricken vessel, state media reports:
Updated
Five more survivors found – reports
Both the Communist-run People’s Daily and state broadcaster CCTV are saying that five more people have been found alive in the upturned ship. This would take the number of survivors to 18, of the 458 who were on board.
This image appears to show a passenger being helped from the vessel:
Update: 5 more passengers found in sunken ship cabin, first aid and rescue underway pic.twitter.com/hK2zvl54KH
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) June 2, 2015
Chinese premier Li Keqiang has arrived at the site of the disaster on the Yangtze river.
State media said he would be taking control of the search-and-rescue efforts.
Premier Li Keqiang arrives at rescue scene of capsized #Yangtze ship, directing rescue work pic.twitter.com/S3eWjbjhJ7
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2015
Updated
The Guardian’s Beijing correspondent, Tom Phillips, who is on his way to the scene of the sinking, has this additional information on the survivor rescued from the ship:
Chinese state media says an 85-yr-old female survivor has been pulled from the Yangtze after last night's disaster
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) June 2, 2015
Updated
Survivor pulled from the ship
Another survivor has been pulled from the submerged ship, bringing the total rescued to 13, Associated Press reports:
Rescuers pulled out one trapped survivor and heard others yell for help Tuesday from inside a capsized cruise ship on China’s Yangtze River after it went down overnight in a storm with 458 people aboard, state broadcaster CCTV said.
At least other 12 people are known to have survived, some of them by swimming ashore, and five people were confirmed dead in the accident late Monday during a cruise from Nanjing to the southwestern city of Chongqing, the broadcaster said.
Search teams heard people calling out from within the partially submerged ship when they climbed aboard the upside-down hull, CCTV reported more than 12 hours after the ship went down in Hubei Province about 9.38pm on Monday during windy weather.
The overturned ship drifted about 3km (almost 2 miles) downstream before coming to rest close to the river shore, where choppy waters were hindering the rescue.
Footage from the broadcaster showed rescuers in orange life vests climbing on the upside-down hull, with one of them lying down tapping a hammer and listening for a response, then gesturing downward.
Divers later pulled out one survivor, CCTV said, bringing the total of number of people to have reached safety to 13. It said five people were confirmed dead.
The fact that the capsized ship drifted downstream was a good sign for rescuers because it meant there was enough air inside to give it buoyancy, and could mean there are enough air pockets for survivors to breathe, said Chi-Mo Park, a professor of naval architecture and ocean engineering at South Korea’s Ulsan University.
“It all depends how much space there is inside the vessel,” Park said.
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted the captain and chief engineer, who were both rescued, as saying the ship sank quickly after being caught in a cyclone. The Communist Party-run People’s Daily said the ship sank within two minutes. CCTV said the two men were under police custody.
What we know so far
Information from China’s state-run media has been conflicting so far, but here is what we can ascertain about the sinking so far:
- More than 400 people on board the Eastern Star (or Dongfangzhixing) vessel remain missing.
- Five bodies have been recovered from the stricken ferry, which was carrying 458 people when it went down at around 9.30pm on Monday night not far from the city of Jingzhou in Hubei province.
- Rescue teams have reportedly heard trapped passengers shouting from within the upturned ship.
- Up to 12 survivors are believed to have been rescued from the scene.
- Among them were the ship’s captain and chief engineer, who are both now in police custody.
- The ship’s captain is reported to have said that the ship was hit by a cyclone.
- The Eastern Star issued no distress call and apparently sank within two minutes.
- The Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, is heading to the scene.
- The 406 passengers on board, most aged 50 to 80, were tourists who had booked a cruise with Xiehe Travel agency. Its Shanghai offices stayed shut on Tuesday as distraught relatives of the missing gathered outside.
- Also on board were five tour guides – one of whom was reported to be among the dead – and 47 crew members.
The spot where the ship capsized is part of the Damazhou waterway section, where the river is 15m meters (50 feet) deep.
Chinese authorities said more than 50 boats and 3,000 people had been deployed for the search-and-rescue efforts, including divers and 1,000 armed police officers.
Over 1,000 armed police officers sent for rescue after ship-capsizing http://t.co/9a2r6r4bGG pic.twitter.com/BE44iNqH6o
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2015
Summary
You can read the Guardian’s latest updated report on the ferry disaster here:
More than 400 people are missing after a Chinese passenger boat sank on the Yangtze river after being hit by what the captain described as a cyclone.
Five bodies have so far been recovered from the the Dongfangzhixing, or Eastern Star, vessel, which was carrying 458 people when it went down at around 9.30pm on Monday night not far from the city of Jingzhou in Hubei province.
Although local reports were conflicting, it appeared that only around 10 to 12 people had been rescued, with heavy rain and strong winds hindering the work of emergency teams.
Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said the ship’s captain and chief engineer were among the survivors, and both were detained by police. Seven survivors were said to have swum to shore to alert the authorities to the sinking.
No distress call was sent by the ferry, which is said to have sunk within two minutes.
China’s prime minister, Li Keqiang, headed to the scene of the disaster to lead the rescue effort.
The Xinhua news agency has posted this video of the search efforts – rather positively titled “10 rescued after ship sinks in Yangtze river” – showing rescuers on the upturned hull:
China’s state broadcaster CCTV says rescuers have heard survivors yelling for help, Associated Press reports.
CCTV says that search teams have heard people calling out from within the partially submerged ship.
Other state media is also reporting that an unknown number of survivors are believed to be trapped inside the capsized vessel.
The tour had been organised by a Shanghai agency, Xiehe Travel.
The company has not opened its offices today, the BBC reports:
Anxious relatives in Shanghai have gathered outside the company’s office, which remains shut. They told reporters that calls to their loved ones on board were not getting through.
Sina News reported that a young man was seen sobbing by the door, saying: “Mum and Dad I was wrong, I shouldn’t have let you go off on your holiday.”
The vessel was owned by the Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corporation, which runs tours to the scenic Three Gorges river canyon area along the Yangtze river.
Five confirmed dead; 12 survivors
The state-run Hubei Daily newspaper now says five bodies have been recovered from the ship.
It reports that the number of survivors has been put at 12.
Captain and chief engineer detained by police
The captain and chief engineer of the stricken ship have been detained by police for questioning, the state-run Xinhua news agency has said.
It gave no other details.
The two were among 10 people known to have survived when the vessel capsized on Monday night.
With more than 400 people still missing, rescuers are concentrating on the upturned ship, hoping to hear signs of life inside.
Search teams reportedly heard sounds coming from within the partially submerged ship about 12 hours after it went down and have been trying to confirm whether they were from survivors trapped inside, state broadcaster CCTV has said.
Footage from the broadcaster shows rescuers in orange life vests climbing on top of the upside-down hull, with one lying down tapping a hammer and listening for a response, then pointing downward.
Rescuers on the capsized ship listen for sounds of life inside, 13 people have been rescued so far #Yangtzeshipsinks pic.twitter.com/7k11052jCk
— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) June 2, 2015
A little more detail on the dimensions of the capsized vessel, the Eastern Star. It has four decks and is 76.5m (251ft) long and 11m (36ft) wide. It can carry a maximum of 534 people, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
It is owned by the Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corporation, which focuses on tourism routes in the popular Three Gorges region.
A more detailed passenger list of those aboard the Eastern Star has come through, via our correspondent Tom Phillips:
• 101 are from Nanjing
• 97 are from Shanghai
• 43 are from Tianjin
• 34 are from Zhenjiang
• 28 are from Wuxi
• 25 are from Changzhou
• 23 are from Shandong
• 19 are from Fujian
• 11 are from Zhejiang
• Nine are from Suzhou
• Eight are from Anhui
• Five are from Xuzhou
• Two are from Yangzhou
Updated
A sense of the scale of the rescue operation is emerging. More than 1,000 police officers have been sent to the site, according to Xinhua. They from the Hubei armed police corps and are equipped with 40 inflatable boats, the news agency said.
Over 1,000 armed police officers sent for rescue after ship-capsizing http://t.co/9a2r6r4bGG pic.twitter.com/BE44iNqH6o
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2015
The picture is looking less clear regarding the possibility of survivors being trapped inside the vessel.
State broadcaster CCTV has said search teams heard sounds coming from within the partially submerged vessel about 12 hours after it went down, but it was not immediately clear whether they amounted to signs of life.
The People’s Daily has more on the 458 people who were on the Eastern Star when it sank. It cites tourism authorities saying of the 406 tourists on board:
- 204 are from Jiangsu.
- 97 from Shanghai.
- 43 from Tianjin.
- 23 from Shandong.
- 19 from Fujian.
- 11 from Zhejiang.
- 8 from Anhui.
There were also 47 crew members and five tour guides, one of whom has reportedly been found dead.
Updated
Pictures are coming through of the sunken ship, which appears to have capsized and is now sitting upside down in the river.
Rescuers in orange jackets can be seen standing on the upturned vessel:
Survivors, casualties and the missing: what we know so far
As details continue to emerge from China following the sinking, here are the latest details on the 458 people on board the Eastern Star, which sank in the Yangtze river on Monday night:
- One person is confirmed dead, reportedly a tour guide.
- Latest reports from state media say 10 people were rescued.
- 447 people remain unaccounted for. Most of them are tourists aged between 50 and 80.
There were 406 passengers on board, along with five members of staff from the travel agency and 47 crew members.
The People’s Daily reports that the body of a tour guide has been recovered.
There were five staff members of the river tour company on board, accompanying 406 tourists on the Yangtze cruise.
State broadcaster CCTV has these images of Chinese premier Li Keqiang on his way to Hubei province.
Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, from where the ship set sail, is just over 1,000km south-east of Beijing.
Premier Li Keqiang on way to site of sinking, asks for all out rescue efforts. #Yangtzeshipsinks pic.twitter.com/AvDmVL0sRy
— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) June 2, 2015
Hopes of finding further passengers alive have been raised after reports that rescuers have made contact with people apparently trapped inside the ship, the Communist Party-run People’s Daily says:
People ALIVE: Rescuers hear response inside after knocking on the ship, according to Yangtze River navigation admin. pic.twitter.com/hn9u5wfEyg
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) June 2, 2015
But there are also reports that a body has been found:
A body is recovered from #Yangtzeshipsinks, rescuers say capsized boat was found, sounds can be heard from inside pic.twitter.com/SkBL6O2xa9
— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) June 2, 2015
Survivors: latest details
Details of the number of survivors are still hazy, with local media reporting several different figures so far.
Latest reports suggest 20 people have been rescued, of the 458 on board.
Two of those saved are reported to be the ship’s captain and engineer.
Seven people are said to have swum to shore to alert authorities to the sinking. No distress call was sent by the Eastern Star before it went down.
The 406 passengers on board were tourists on a cruise organised by a Shanghai tour group, and aged mostly between 50 and 80.
Five members of staff from the travel agency were also aboard.
There were also 47 crew members.
Images are now coming in from the scene of the search-and-rescue efforts.
The waters of the Yangtze river at the sinking site are reportedly calmer, but the fog is hampering visibility:
Rescue workers are heading out on boats to search for any survivors:
Rescue boats preparing to head out into the river:
Divers are also involved in the search-and-rescue efforts:
The Xinhua news agency reports that Chinese president Xi Jinping has issued an order for “all-out rescue efforts” while Premier Li Keqiang ordered a work team from the state council, China’s cabinet, to direct search-and-rescue work.
Efforts have faced difficulty due to bad weather, Xinhua said.
Li, along with vice-premier Ma Kai and state councilor Yang Jing are on their way to the site of the sinking.
Xi has ordered the provinces of Hubei and Chongqing to join in the rescue efforts and, Xinhua reports, “properly handle the aftermath”.
China’s transport ministry and other government departments were also told to throw all available resources into the rescue effort and for the treatment of those saved, Xinhua said.
Xi has also called for officials to heed lessons and take more effective measures to protect people’s lives, Xinhua said.
Updated
The rescue effort
The timing of the sinking – around 9.30pm on Monday night – and the weather have hampered efforts to search for survivors.
Although it is now light in the area where the ship went down, state broadcaster CCTV said fog meant visibility was poor. In addition, 150mm (six inches) of rain had fallen in the area over the last 24 hours.
The Communist Party-run People’s Daily said the ship sank within two minutes in the Damazhou waterway section, where the river is 15m (about 50 feet) deep.
The ship’s captain, who was among those rescued, reportedly said the vessel was hit by a cyclone.
Associated Press reports that video footage of the river showed calmer waters on Tuesday morning, with dozens of rescue personnel in bright orange vests on the shore. Several rescue ships were searching the waters, and submersible craft had been deployed.
The CCTV channel said seven survivors swam to shore and alerted authorities.
Local media reports that most of the passengers onboard the ship are between 50 and 80 years old #Yangtzeshipsinks pic.twitter.com/npBgFOuyKg
— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) June 2, 2015
Reuters news agency reports that only 12 people are confirmed to have been rescued from the stricken ship. Earlier indications were that 30 people had been saved. The rescue operation is, of course, ongoing.
A passenger ship carrying 458 people, many elderly tourists, sank in China’s Yangtze river on Monday night during a storm and only 12 people had been rescued so far, state media said.
Premier Li Keqiang was heading to the scene of the accident in central Hubei province, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Xinhua, citing the Yangtze River navigation administration, said those rescued from the Eastern Star included the ship’s captain and engineer, who said the vessel sank rapidly after being caught in what it said was a cyclone.
Among those on board the ship were 406 tourists, aged from around 50 to 80, on a tour organised by a Shanghai tour group, and 47 crew members, the People’s Daily said on its microblog.
The newspaper said the boat had the capacity to carry more than 500 people.
The vessel was heading to southwest China’s Chongqing city from Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu province. It sank at around 9.28pm local time in the Jianli section of the river.
Opening summary
Here is what we know so far about the sinking of a Chinese passenger ferry on the Yangtze river late on Monday night:
-
At least 458 people were travelling on the Dongfangzhixing, or Eastern Star, vessel when it went down at around 11pm on Monday night not far from the city of Jingzhou in Hubei province.
- The ferry had been travelling from Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, to the south-western city of Chongqing.
- Initial reports said there were 405 Chinese passengers, five travel agency employees and 47 crew members on the ship.
- By Tuesday morning, local reports said 30 people had been rescued with heavy rain and strong winds hindering the work of emergency teams.
- One of those rescued was the ship’s captain, who reported that the vessel had been hit by a cyclone.
- China’s prime minister, Li Keqiang, is heading to the scene of the disaster “to lead the rescue effort”.
- The president, Xi Jinping, has ordered an “all-out” search and rescue effort as China braces itself for a major disaster.
You can read the latest report from Tom Phillips, the Guardian’s Beijing correspondent, here. You can follow us for updates on Twitter @tomphillipsin and @Claire_Phipps.
This live blog will have latest information as the story unfolds.
