21 confirmed dead after tugboat capsizes in eastern China

Authorities confirmed 21 people dead in the capsizing of a tugboat with an international team on a test voyage in eastern China, after rescuers dragged the overturned vessel to shallow waters and scoured it Saturday. One person remained missing, and rescuers continued to search the cockpit of the vessel as well as nearby sections of the Yangtze River in the province of Jiangsu, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said. The newly built, 30-meter long Wanshenzhou 67 was on a test voyage Thursday in the river’s Fubei Channel when it suddenly turned over.

Water entered the boat cabin very quickly, in less than 20 seconds it was completely filled with water.

Survivor Wang Zhenkai

The ship’s owner, parts suppliers and engineers were among the 25 people aboard for the test, including eight foreigners: Four Singaporeans, an Indian, an Indonesian, a Japanese and a Malaysian. Three people were rescued, all Chinese, including one man identified as an interpreter who was freed when rescuers cut through the bottom of the boat’s hull early Friday — a full 14 hours after it went down. Officials did not immediately give the missing person’s nationality. Swift currents had hampered the operation, and it was not until Saturday morning when rescue teams were able to pull the vessel to the surface and to shallow waters for a thorough search inside.

Asia-Pacific