Ship carrying 458 people sinks in Yangtze River
6月1日晚，一艘从南京驶往重庆的客船“东方之星”轮在长江中游湖北监利水域突遇龙卷风发生翻沉。事发客船共有458人，其中旅客405人。长江航道、海事部门正展开营救
A passenger ship carrying 458 people sank Monday night in the Hubei section of China's Yangtze River.
The ship, named Dongfangzhixing (Eastern Star), sank at around 9:28 p.m. in the Jianli (Hubei Province) section of the Yangtze River, according to the Yangtze River navigation administration. The captain and the chief engineer, who have been rescued, both claimed the ship sank quickly after being caught in a cyclone.
It was heading from Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, to southwest China's Chongqing city.
There were 405 Chinese passengers, five travel agency workers and 47 crew members aboard, according to the administration.
Eight people have been rescued. Rescue work continues in theYangtze River. Most of the passengers on board were elderly.
It was supposed to be a pleasure trip, but now more than four hundred lives are at stake.
It only took 2 minutes for the passenger ship "Eastern Star" to sink and no time to signal an SOS. Only seven people were fast enough to escape and swim onshore and they were members of the crew. The hundreds of passengers had no warning that they would be trapped.
Rescuers are still struggling to find a way to save more, but chances of survival are falling."We're not optimistic about the people who are trapped, but we are doing everything we can."
Rescuers say the rapid flow of water and poor visibility are making the search for survivors difficult.
There has been very heavy rainfall in recent days at the Jianli section of the river, where the accident happened, with more than 150 millimeters falling in the past 24 hours.
Forecasters have issued a storm alert in the area for next two days.
Most of those on board are aged from 50 to 80. The youngest is a three-year-old girl. Families are desperately waiting for any information This 65 year-old woman was among the few lucky ones to be rescued. The fate of the hundreds of others is unknown.