Hundreds missing in shipwreck, captain detained
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 2, 2015
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File photo of the ship named Dongfangzhixing (Eastern Star) which sank Monday night in the Hubei section of China's Yangtze River. [China Daily] |
The ship, which departed from the eastern Chinese city Nanjing and is bound for Chongqing Municipality in southwest China, sank "within one or two minutes" after being caught in a cyclone, according to the ship's captain and chief engineer.
The incident occurred at around 9:28 p.m. Monday in the Jianli (Hubei Province) section of the Yangtze, China's longest river, according to the Yangtze River navigation administration.
Authorities have located the site where the ship sank. Part of the ship, which turned upside down, has emerged. More than 30 boats have been dispatched for the rescue.
Maritime authorities said most of the passengers are elderly people who signed up on a travel tour in Shanghai.
There were 406 passengers, five travel agency tour guides and 47 crew members aboard, according to the administration. All passenger boarded from Nanjing.
Among the passengers, 97 are from Shanghai, 204 from Jiangsu, 11 from Zhejiang, 43 from Tianjin, 23 from Shandong, 19 from Fujian, and 8 from Anhui, Hubei Daily cited tourism agencies as saying. In addition, there were 47 crew members and five tourist guides.
The wrecked ship belongs to a State-owned enterprise called "Chongqing Eastern Shipping Company" in Chongqing which was established in 1967 with fixed assets of more than 100 million yuan ($16.14 million).
It operates passenger transportation from Chongqing to Nanjing on the Yangtze River.
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