China river tragedy: Unrest grows as rescue mission turns to recovery effort

The Eastern Star’s top-deck cabins with smashed blue roofs jutted out of gray water Friday, after Chinese disaster teams righted the capsized river cruiser to ease the search for more than 340 people still missing. So far, 97 bodies have been found. Meantime, as the search draws on, distraught families demand answers from Chinese authorities on how the tragedy happened and why authorities aren’t answering questions. The passenger ship had carried 456 people when it overturned in a freak storm on Monday, and only 14 survivors have been found, including the captain and first engineer, who are in police custody.

All the emphasis is on a natural disaster … but we think that this is unjust. Apart from natural disaster, were there other causes? Is this not rational to ask?

Xia Yunchen, a 70-year-old university lecturer and family member of passengers

Passengers’ relatives have raised questions about whether the boat should have continued after the storm started, and despite a weather warning earlier in the evening. In a sign of potential unrest among the hundreds of relatives who have descended on the small Hubei province county of Jianli, a distraught family member burst into a gathering of journalists to complain about their treatment and demanded an investigation into possible human error.

Yangtze river World