The death toll from a Chinese cruise ship that capsized during a storm on the Yangtze River jumped to 396 yesterday, leaving less than 50 still missing, as the boat operator apologized and said it would cooperate with investigators.
Only 14 survivors, one of them the captain, have been found after the ship carrying 456 overturned in a freak tornado on Monday night.
Rescuers are searching the cabin of the ship, which was righted and raised on Friday, looking for more bodies.
Photo: AFP
The top and bottom floors of the four-level ship are the current focus of the search, but, due to the level of damage, it might take some time to complete the search, state TV said.
Jiang Zhao (姜曌), general manager of the company which operated the Eastern Star, bowed in apology for the disaster during an interview with state media reported late on Friday, saying the company would “fully” cooperate with the investigation.
Beijing has pledged there would be “no cover-up” in the probe.
Police have detained the captain and chief engineer for questioning as part of the investigation. An initial probe found the ship was not overloaded and had enough life vests on board at the time of the incident.
The disaster has now caused a higher toll than the sinking of a ferry in South Korea in April last year that killed 304 people, most of them children on a school trip. It is also China’s worst shipping disaster in seven decades.
More than 1,400 family members have arrived in Jianli in central Hubei Province, where the ship went down, with many expressing frustration at the lack of information from the government.
The government said that it is doing everything possible to help the relatives, including providing free accommodation and medical services, and state TV yesterday ran an interview with a tearful family member saying how happy she was with all their help.
However, relatives speaking to reporters have expressed concern about security apparently being focused on them, including the number of police cars parked outside of hotels where they are staying.
Yesterday morning, a daily government briefing for family members was cut short after an argument broke out with a representative of the local government. One woman was carried out of the briefing after she fainted.
“There is no information at all. Every day we’re here procrastinating, wasting time. There’s no clear-cut answers, there’s no progress to inform us of,” said Wang Shuang, 24, whose mother and uncle were on the Eastern Star.
Aware of the sensitivity of the disaster, the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, China’s apex of power, this week called on local authorities to “earnestly safeguard social stability.”
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