JUNE 3 (Reuters) — 29 people have been found and 14 are confirmed dead as the rescue operation is underway after a passenger ship carrying 456 people capsized in China’s Yangtze River, navigation authorities said Wednesday.
Rescuers said there could be more survivors in the overturned wreckage, but strong winds and heavy rain are hampering rescue efforts. More than 420 people are still missing.
The on-site rescue headquarters proposed two plans to search for more survivors. One is to dig three holes on the ship where passages are concentrated to search more survivors. The other is to fix the ship with steels and lift it out of water with the help of two rescue ships. And then the rescuers will open the cabin door for further search. The authorities are negotiating for final decision.
Divers are combing the compartments for survivors in the murky water, while the search on the river has extended to 150 km downstream of the site and will continue to extend to 220 km, said Li Jiang, vice head of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Administration of Navigational Affairs, under the Ministry of Transport.
A team of 4,000, including police, firefighters and soldiers from the Chinese Navy and over 100 medical workers from the Wuhan General Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army Guangzhou Military Area Command are involved in the rescue mission.
Most of the passengers were from Shanghai and its neighboring province Jiangsu, aged between 3 and 83. The majority were in their 60s and 70s.
The rescue work is still underway. (Hubei Province, Central China)
