Death toll touches 65 in China Cruise capsizing
The death toll has risen to 65 in the river cruise capsizing disaster in the Yangtze River in China. The Chinese authorities are working to rescue people by deploying more divers and a large crane to stabilize the ship. Only 14 out of the 459 people on board have survived as of now and the rest are still being hunted for by the rescuers.
An Eastern Star cruise ship sank in China's Yangtze river due to a storm in the southern part of China. The ship sank in the Damazhou waterway section of Hubei province, where the river is about 50 feet deep. Rescue work had begun soon and around eight people were rescued, with more than 440 others missing.
Rescue teams in China had claimed that they heard cries of people still trapped underneath, when they climbed over the hull of the partially submerged ship According to recent reports, five people were confirmed dead and many more were feared to have died. A total of fifteen people had been safely rescued.
Dozens of grief-struck families were seeking information at the agency about their relatives who were on board on the Eastern Star Cruise. Due to the lack of information being provided to them, many headed to the offices of travel agencies in hope of at least some consolation.
With the official death toll rising to 18 and still 400 people missing, China has been preparing itself for the worst shipping disaster in its recent history after the Eastern Star cruise sank in the Yangtze river. Rescue work was still going on in the no-visibility area and the prime minister had encouraged the divers to not let the hopes of the country die.
As the death toll was soaring high in the Eastern Star cruise catastrophe, Chinese government had decided to censor independent media reports. The government had ordered the news media to use only authoritative government-approved data about the disaster. Many reporters were told to go back but many decided to disobey the orders and continued to report.
The Eastern Star mishap with more than 400 people still missing can become one of China's deadliest disasters. A similar catastrophe had occurred in 1948 after the sinking of SS Kiangya off Shanghai which killed nearly 2,750 to 4,000 people.
