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China boat capsize: Xi orders all-out rescue as hundreds missing
June 2, 2015, 7:38 am

Photo taken with a mobile phone shows rescue workers near the ship capsize site in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei Province June 2, 2015 [Xinhua]

Photo taken with a mobile phone shows rescue workers near the ship capsize site in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River in central China’s Hubei Province June 2, 2015 [Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday ordered all-out rescue efforts to help survivors out of a cruise ship that sank on China’s Yangtze River.

The ship went down overnight with 458 people aboard, most of them elderly, according to China’s Ministry of Transport.

Five people are confirmed dead and at least 13 have survived, with the rest still missing, the Chinese Ministry said.

Doctors from Hubei and neighboring Chinese provinces are rushing to the site to treat those rescued from a capsized passenger ship, according to China’s top health authority on Tuesday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first among world leaders to react to the tragedy, sending out condolences on the Chinese web platform, Weibo (China’s Twitter).

“Shocked to learn of the sinking of a cruise ship in the Yangtze River. I pray for the safety and wellbeing of those on board,” Modi said on Weibo.

The ship, Dongfangzhixing, or Eastern Star, sank at around 9:28 pm (local time) in the Jianli waters of the Yangtze River, according to the Yangtze River navigation administration.

The ship was heading from Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province, to southwest China’s Chongqing City.

 

TBP and Agencies