News Digest

‘No possibility’ of survivors in China ship sinking: official

Authorities admit there is no hope for more survivors from a capsized Chinese cruise ship, as cranes on Friday slowly raised the sunken vessel with exhausted relatives preparing themselves for further agony. Just 14 of the 456 people on board the Eastern Star were rescued after it sank on the Yangtze River late Monday, and “comprehensive research and analysis of the facts” showed the chances of finding anyone still alive were “increasingly slim”, a transport ministry spokesman said. Rescuers were battling to right a cruise ship that capsized in central China in a last-ditch attempt to find survivors on Thursday, as hundreds of people clutching candles and flowers gathered nearby to weep for the dead.

Due to factors including the recent wide-ranging rainfall, it was exceptionally hard for the divers every time they submerged. Every dive was a grope in the dark.

Transport ministry spokesman Xu Chengguang

Previous attempts earlier in the day to cut into the hull were suspended due to poor weather. Torrential rain has continued to hamper rescue operations and the swift-flowing and murky brown waters of the Yangtze are also proving a huge challenge for rescue divers searching the boat room-by-room. Only 14 people have been found alive and, with hopes for more survivors fading fast, relatives of those on board gathered Thursday night in a public square in Jianli to pray for those lost in the disaster. As night fell, state TV showed two huge cranes beginning the delicate operation to right the submerged hull of the “Eastern Star,” which overturned on the Yangtze river on Monday evening with more than 450 people on board.