Hundreds Missing From Capsized Ship in China
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015June 2, 2015
One day after the Eastern Star cruise liner capsized in the Yangtze River in China, rescue workers continue to tap on the hull of the ship, listening for sounds indicating there are passengers still alive inside the boat. On Monday evening, June 1, (Chinese time), the four-story cruise ship overturned with 458 people—both passengers and crew members—aboard. Twenty-four hours later, 5 bodies had been recovered and only 14 people have been rescued. Even if there are passengers still alive and trapped in air pockets inside the ship, time is running out for them. A large number of the passengers were elderly people.
There are more than 100 divers at the site, but the rescue is complex. In order to cut an opening in the hull of the ship, the Eastern Star could first need to be towed to shallow waters. The area of the Yangtze in which the ship overturned is more than 50 feet (15 meters) deep. Once rescuers cut into the ship, it could release the air pockets holding it up, causing it to sink to the bottom. Thus, the rescue method being used is listening for sounds and alerting divers as to the location of possible survivors.
Experts suspect that the weather on the evening of June 1 led to the tragedy. The boat could carry up to 534 people, so it was not overloaded. Some of the few survivors reported strong winds and lightning before the ship capsized. A cyclone was reported in the area at the time of the disaster.
Update: As of June 4, 2015, rescuers did cut a number of holes into the ship’s hull, but no one was found. As of the 4th, the number of people rescued remains at 14, while the bodies recovered is up to 75. Some 370 people are still missing. Workers welded the holes cut into the ship closed after their search and were planning on righting the ship to continue searching for the dead.