<span id="midArticle_start"/>* Death toll rises to 29, more than 400 missing
<span id="midArticle_0"/>* Passing freighter captain heard cry for help
<span id="midArticle_1"/>* Search area expanded more than 200 km down river
<span id="midArticle_2"/>* Boat had been cited for safety issues in 2013
<span id="midArticle_3"/>* Angry family members protest in Shanghai (Recasts, adds details)
<span id="midArticle_4"/>By Engen Tham and John Ruwitch
<span id="midArticle_5"/>JIANLI, China, June 3 (Reuters) - Dozens of people brokethrough a police cordon as they marched in protest on Wednesdayto the site of a sunken cruise ship in the Yangtze River todemand news of missing relatives.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Rescuers searched for more than 400 missing people, many ofthem elderly, but hopes were fading of finding more survivorsfrom the worst shipping disaster in modern Chinese history.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Only 14 people, including the ship's captain, have beenfound alive since the ship capsized in a tornado on Monday nightwith 456 people on board. Just 29 bodies have been recovered.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>Frustrated by the level of information coming from localauthorities, about 80 family members hired a bus to take themfrom Nanjing to Jianli county in Hubei, an eight-hour journey.They were seen walking towards the rescue site late on Wednesdayevening.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>"This isn't going to be much use, we're just doing this forthe government to see," said organiser Wang Feng.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>The protesters later broke through a cordon of 20 to 25paramilitary police who had tried to prevent them from goingthrough a roadblock.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>Volunteers from Jianli offered rides and water to therelatives. Some people tied yellow ribbons on their car sidemirrors.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>Earlier, 47 of the relatives asked the government to releasethe names of the living and the dead to them at the rescue site,according to a statement.
<span id="midArticle_13"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>In a separate statement, other relatives questioned why mostof the people rescued were crew members, why the boat did notdock, and why the captain and crew members had time to don theirlife vests but not sound any alarm.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>State television showed rescuers, some standing on theEastern Star's upturned hull, and scores of divers workingthrough the night.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>Rescuers have not slackened although divers facedifficulties such as cabin doors blocked by tables and beds.There is also the fear that rashly cutting holes in the hullcould burst air pockets keeping people alive.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>"Although there's lots of work to do, saving people is stillbeing put first," Transport Ministry spokesman Xu Chengguangtold reporters.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>TV pictures showed a rain-soaked Premier Li Keqiang, who ison the scene overseeing rescue efforts, bowing in respect to twobodies laid out on the deck of a boat covered in sheets.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"Life is greater than the heavens, and the burden on yourshoulders is massive," Li told a group of military divers.
<span id="midArticle_3"/><span id="midArticle_4"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>HOPE FADES
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Some relatives were already bracing for the worst.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>"Yesterday I still had some hope. The boat is big and thewater hadn't gone all the way in. Now, it's been more than 40hours. I ask you, what do I have left?" said Wang Feng, a35-year-old wedding photographer whose father was on the ship.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>The ship was on an 11-day voyage upstream from Nanjing, nearShanghai, to Chongqing.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>The People's Daily said the ship passed inspections byauthorities in Chongqing last month. But according to documentsfrom a local maritime watchdog, it was investigated and held byauthorities due to defects in 2013.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>The Nanjing Maritime Safety Administration investigatedEastern Star as part of a safety campaign into passenger ferriesand tour boats and held the ship along with five other vessels,according to three documents on the bureau's website.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>The documents gave no details on the defects but said theissues were reported to the Chongqing maritime safety bureau.
<span id="midArticle_11"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>The search area has been expanded up to 220 km (135 miles)downstream, state television said, suggesting that bodies couldhave been swept far away from where the ship foundered.
<span id="midArticle_12"/><span id="midArticle_13"/>BAD WEATHER
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Zhang Hui, a tour guide who survived the disaster, told theofficial Xinhua news agency that it was raining so hard waterwas seeping through cabin windows, and that the ship then listedviolently.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>"I thought, 'this isn't right', and I told my colleague, 'Ithink we're in trouble'. After I said that, the ship flippedover. It only took 30 seconds or a minute," Zhang said.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>Li Yongjun, captain of a freighter that passed near theEastern Star shortly before it capsized, told Xinhua the weatherwas so bad he decided to anchor and wait out the storm.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>He said he heard a voice from the river crying, "Help!" justafter 10 p.m. (1600 GMT), about 30 minutes after state media hassaid the Eastern Star capsized.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"The rain was just too heavy, there was no way to mount arescue, so I shouted over, 'swim to the bank!'," Li said.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Police have detained the captain and chief engineer forquestioning. An initial investigation found the ship was notoverloaded and had enough life vests on board.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>The ship overturned "within one or two minutes", Xinhuaquoted the captain as saying. He was dragged out of the waternear a pier just before midnight on Monday.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>China's weather bureau said a tornado buffeted the areawhere the ship was cruising, a freak occurrence in a countrywhere twisters can happen but are uncommon.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Accidents of this magnitude are uncommon in China. Statemedia said it was the worst recorded ship disaster on theYangtze River. In 1948, the steamship Kiangya blew up on theHuangpu river, killing more than 1,000 people.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>(Writing by Ben Blanchard and Sui-Lee Wee; Additional reportingby Megha Rajagopalan in Jianli, Adam Jourdan and Sue-Lin Wong inShanghai, Engen Tham in Nanjing and Michael Martina in Beijing;Editing by Angus MacSwan)
<span id="midArticle_8"/>
<span id="midArticle_0"/>* Passing freighter captain heard cry for help
<span id="midArticle_1"/>* Search area expanded more than 200 km down river
<span id="midArticle_2"/>* Boat had been cited for safety issues in 2013
<span id="midArticle_3"/>* Angry family members protest in Shanghai (Recasts, adds details)
<span id="midArticle_4"/>By Engen Tham and John Ruwitch
<span id="midArticle_5"/>JIANLI, China, June 3 (Reuters) - Dozens of people brokethrough a police cordon as they marched in protest on Wednesdayto the site of a sunken cruise ship in the Yangtze River todemand news of missing relatives.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Rescuers searched for more than 400 missing people, many ofthem elderly, but hopes were fading of finding more survivorsfrom the worst shipping disaster in modern Chinese history.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Only 14 people, including the ship's captain, have beenfound alive since the ship capsized in a tornado on Monday nightwith 456 people on board. Just 29 bodies have been recovered.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>Frustrated by the level of information coming from localauthorities, about 80 family members hired a bus to take themfrom Nanjing to Jianli county in Hubei, an eight-hour journey.They were seen walking towards the rescue site late on Wednesdayevening.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>"This isn't going to be much use, we're just doing this forthe government to see," said organiser Wang Feng.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>The protesters later broke through a cordon of 20 to 25paramilitary police who had tried to prevent them from goingthrough a roadblock.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>Volunteers from Jianli offered rides and water to therelatives. Some people tied yellow ribbons on their car sidemirrors.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>Earlier, 47 of the relatives asked the government to releasethe names of the living and the dead to them at the rescue site,according to a statement.
<span id="midArticle_13"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>In a separate statement, other relatives questioned why mostof the people rescued were crew members, why the boat did notdock, and why the captain and crew members had time to don theirlife vests but not sound any alarm.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>State television showed rescuers, some standing on theEastern Star's upturned hull, and scores of divers workingthrough the night.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>Rescuers have not slackened although divers facedifficulties such as cabin doors blocked by tables and beds.There is also the fear that rashly cutting holes in the hullcould burst air pockets keeping people alive.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>"Although there's lots of work to do, saving people is stillbeing put first," Transport Ministry spokesman Xu Chengguangtold reporters.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>TV pictures showed a rain-soaked Premier Li Keqiang, who ison the scene overseeing rescue efforts, bowing in respect to twobodies laid out on the deck of a boat covered in sheets.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"Life is greater than the heavens, and the burden on yourshoulders is massive," Li told a group of military divers.
<span id="midArticle_3"/><span id="midArticle_4"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>HOPE FADES
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Some relatives were already bracing for the worst.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>"Yesterday I still had some hope. The boat is big and thewater hadn't gone all the way in. Now, it's been more than 40hours. I ask you, what do I have left?" said Wang Feng, a35-year-old wedding photographer whose father was on the ship.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>The ship was on an 11-day voyage upstream from Nanjing, nearShanghai, to Chongqing.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>The People's Daily said the ship passed inspections byauthorities in Chongqing last month. But according to documentsfrom a local maritime watchdog, it was investigated and held byauthorities due to defects in 2013.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>The Nanjing Maritime Safety Administration investigatedEastern Star as part of a safety campaign into passenger ferriesand tour boats and held the ship along with five other vessels,according to three documents on the bureau's website.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>The documents gave no details on the defects but said theissues were reported to the Chongqing maritime safety bureau.
<span id="midArticle_11"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>The search area has been expanded up to 220 km (135 miles)downstream, state television said, suggesting that bodies couldhave been swept far away from where the ship foundered.
<span id="midArticle_12"/><span id="midArticle_13"/>BAD WEATHER
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Zhang Hui, a tour guide who survived the disaster, told theofficial Xinhua news agency that it was raining so hard waterwas seeping through cabin windows, and that the ship then listedviolently.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>"I thought, 'this isn't right', and I told my colleague, 'Ithink we're in trouble'. After I said that, the ship flippedover. It only took 30 seconds or a minute," Zhang said.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>Li Yongjun, captain of a freighter that passed near theEastern Star shortly before it capsized, told Xinhua the weatherwas so bad he decided to anchor and wait out the storm.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>He said he heard a voice from the river crying, "Help!" justafter 10 p.m. (1600 GMT), about 30 minutes after state media hassaid the Eastern Star capsized.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"The rain was just too heavy, there was no way to mount arescue, so I shouted over, 'swim to the bank!'," Li said.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Police have detained the captain and chief engineer forquestioning. An initial investigation found the ship was notoverloaded and had enough life vests on board.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>The ship overturned "within one or two minutes", Xinhuaquoted the captain as saying. He was dragged out of the waternear a pier just before midnight on Monday.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>China's weather bureau said a tornado buffeted the areawhere the ship was cruising, a freak occurrence in a countrywhere twisters can happen but are uncommon.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Accidents of this magnitude are uncommon in China. Statemedia said it was the worst recorded ship disaster on theYangtze River. In 1948, the steamship Kiangya blew up on theHuangpu river, killing more than 1,000 people.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>(Writing by Ben Blanchard and Sui-Lee Wee; Additional reportingby Megha Rajagopalan in Jianli, Adam Jourdan and Sue-Lin Wong inShanghai, Engen Tham in Nanjing and Michael Martina in Beijing;Editing by Angus MacSwan)
<span id="midArticle_8"/>
via Smart Health Shop Forum http://ift.tt/1Q7ugW7
No comments:
Post a Comment