Chinese ship sinks at Yangtze River, 1 dead, 30 rescued; rescue ops underway for over 400 mostly elderly tourists

Search and rescue operations are underway after a Chinese ship sunk at the Yangtze River in China at around 11 pm on Monday night. Thirty out of the 458 passengers who were mostly elderly tourists have been rescued while 1 has been confirmed dead as of press time.

State-run media XinHua News Agency reported that the ship,carrying 458 people, was on its way to Chongqing in the south west part of China from the eastern city of Nanjing when it sank after it was caught in a cyclone while travelling along the Yangtze River.  The sinking happened in the about 50 feet deep-Damazhou part of Yangtze river in Jianli county, Hubei province wherein the ship turned upside down. Dongfangzhixing or Eastern Star, a four-tier ship, had 405 Chinese passengers, 47 crew and 5 travel agency employees plus the captain. It was owned by Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corporation which has tour arrangements to the Three Gorges River Canyon along Yangtze River. The said tour was arranged by a company in Shanghai wherein most of the tourists onboard were ages 50-80.

A report said the ship which had a length of 251 feet, a width of 36 feet and a 534-passenger capacity, was found 15 meters below the surface of the river. China's President Xi Jinping has ordered an all-out search and rescue effort. The number of rescued passengers has already reached to 30 as of Tuesday morning while one has been confirmed to be dead. Heavy rains and stronger winds though hampered the operations.

China's Premier Li Keqiang who went to the scene of the incident, has ordered a team for the search and rescue operation. Another source says the captain and the chief engineer, who were among those rescued, said that the vessel sank quickly when they met the storm.

More than four hundred are still missing as emergency teams continue to exert all efforts on the sunken China ship.