Chinese ferry sinking leaves hundreds missing

A Chinese ferry travelling from Jiangsu's capital city Nanjing to the south-Western port of Chonqing sank on Monday night at 21:28 local time in the Jianli section of the river with 405 passengers and 47 crew members on board.

The Eastern Star vessel, that was carrying mainly elderly Chinese tourists, reportedly issued no emergency signal.

The captain, who was among those rescued, said a sudden “tornado” may have been the cause of the accident, and was detained by police for questioning.

Eighteen people were rescued from the four-decked boat, and five bodies were recovered.
Hopes of finding further passengers alive were raised after reports pointed out that rescuers had contacted people apparently trapped inside the ship, the Communist Party-run People’s Daily said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered an “all-out” search and rescue effort, while the country's Prime Minister Li Keqiang headed to the scene of the disaster “to lead the rescue effort”.

More than 1000 policemen from Hubei province are participating in the rescue operation, according to the country's Xinhua news agency, although weather forecasts were calling for heavy rains on Tuesday, which could complicate the rescue operation.

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