5th June, 2015
Ministry of Transport on Friday said the death toll from a Chinese cruise ship that capsized on the Yangtze River has risen to 97.
Xu Chengguang, the ministry’s spokesman, said at a press conference that 97 bodies had been retrieved from the ship that had 456 people on board when it capsized on Monday.
Some 50 divers worked overnight to tie slings around the 2,200-tonne ship so that it could be hoisted over.
The ministry said with rescuers working through the night, the ship was sighted and could be seen on one side of the hull.
Xu said that oil leaking from the ship was found in the river water.
Blankets have been placed to help contain it.
The cruise ship, carrying mainly elderly tourists, was on an 11-day trip along the Yangtze River when it was immediately overturned by a tornado on Monday night in Jianli in central China’s Hubei Province.
However, only 14 people have been found alive so far.
More than 400 soldiers, 1,700 paramilitary people together with 149 vessels, 59 machines and a helicopter have joined in the rescue mission.