Rescuers race against clock to find survivors of China ship

Chinese rescuers were working through the night in a desperate race to find survivors from a capsized cruise ship, with more than 400 people still missing after the boat sank in a storm on the Yangtze river. By Tuesday night just 14 people had been confirmed as surviving after the Dongfangzhixing, or “Eastern Star,” rapidly overturned late Monday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Seven bodies have been recovered from the wreckage, leaving hundreds more still missing, possibly trapped within the ship which apparently sank in a matter of seconds with 458 people on board, state media said.

Rescuers knocked on the ship and received responses. Three people were found alive.

the Hubei Daily newspaper said

At a meeting late Tuesday, Premier Li Keqiang urged divers to keep searching the ship in an “overnight battle” to find more survivors, Xinhua said. Rescuers pulled at least three survivors from the wreckage Tuesday as fears mounted for the more than 400 still missing. Local reports said the passengers were mostly aged over 60.

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