Boat with more than 450 people sinks in China's Yangtze Chinese ferry sinks in Yangtze river with 458 people aboard – latest updates. President Xi urges all-out rescue efforts following ship-capsizing accident. 长江客轮倾覆现场有大风暴雨 搜救困难 “东方之星”最后影像披露 More than 400 people are missing after a Chinese passenger boat sank on the Yangtze river as it was hit by what the captain described as a cyclone BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has made an important instruction, ordering all-out rescue efforts following the accident in which a passenger ship carrying 458 people sank Monday night in the Hubei section of China's Yangtze River. Premier Li Keqiang is heading to Hubei Province to direct the rescue work. 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. BEIJING – A small cruise ship carrying more than 450 people, many of them elderly, sank overnight in the Yangtze River during a storm in southern China, and eight people have been rescued, the state broadcaster CCTV reported Tuesday. Rescue work was underway but low visibility due to fog was hampering the search, CCTV said. The boat was traveling from Nanjing upstream to the southwestern city of Chongqing when it sank Monday night in Hubei province, the report 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 four-level ship was carrying 406 Chinese passengers, five travel agency employees and 47 crew members. It sank in the Damazhou waterway section, where the river is 15 meters (about 50 feet) deep. The broadcaster said most of the passengers were 50 to 80 years of age. CCTV video footage of the river showed calm waters Tuesday morning, with dozens of rescue personnel in bright orange vests gathered on the shore. Several rescue ships were searching the waters, and submersible craft had been deployed. The channel said seven of the survivors swam to shore and alerted authorities of the sinking. 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 (150 millimeters) of rain had fallen in the region over the past 24 hours. 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.

• published: 02 Jun 2015
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