Chinese Ship Capsizes with Hundreds Missing

Local Editor

Five people had died and hundreds are missing after a cruise ship carrying 458 people capsized on the Yangtze River in China's Hubei province.

The ship was floating upside down in a wide stretch of river - state media said rescuers tapping the hull had heard calls for help from inside.

Though, the boat, the Eastern Star, reportedly sent no emergency signal. Media reports said the alarm was raised by several people who had swum to shore and alerted the police.

Most of those on board were tourists aged around 50 to 80 travelling from the eastern city of Nanjing to Chongqing in the south-west - a journey of at least 1,500km [930 miles].

Further, thousands of soldiers and rescue personnel had been deployed, and a high-powered salvage ship was on the way to pull the boat upright, reported China Central Television [CCTV].

The state broadcaster said on its Weibo microblog account that divers had knocked on the hull underwater and had heard cries of help from within. It said later that rescuers above water had established contact with those trapped inside.

Moreover, the captain and the chief engineer, who were both rescued after more than an hour in the water, had reportedly been detained by police.

They were quoted earlier as saying that the boat had been caught in a cyclone and sank within minutes, while many people were asleep.

Premier Li Keqiang, who was travelling to Hubei province, had ordered a team from the state council to lead the search and rescue operation, said Xinhua.

Meanwhile President Xi Jinping had ordered that no efforts should be spared in the rescue operation, according to state media.

Accordingly, Eastern Star had been carrying 406 Chinese passengers, five travel agency employees and 47 crew members.

The boat sank in the Damazhou section of the Yangtze in Jianli County, Hubei, at about 21:30 local time on Monday evening [13:30 GMT].

Consequently, anxious relatives in Shanghai had gathered outside the company's office, which remained shut. They told reporters that phone calls to their relatives on board were not getting through.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team