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450 People Are Still Missing After a Passenger Ship Capsizes on China’s Yangzte River

Mother Jones

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A passenger boat carrying 458 people capsized and sank on the Yangtze River on Monday, according to Chinese state media. Just eight people have been rescued so far, and 400 remain missing, with rescue efforts being hampered by bad weather, according to Xinhua, the state-controlled news agency. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is currently heading to the accident site, CCTV has reported.

The news was first published by Xinhua just after 6 a.m. local time, more than eight hours after the accident reportedly occurred on what is one of the world’s largest and busiest rivers; passenger ferries, as well as all manner of commercial barges, are common on the Yangtze. The boat was en route from Nanjing to Chongqing, a megacity in southwest China. According to the news agency, the rescued captain and chief engineer said the vessel had been caught in a “cyclone.” (Official weather predictions for the area indicated the risk of short-term severe precipitation, thunderstorms, or gales.)

A conflicting report carried by CCTV America, the US-targeted branch of the state-run TV station, put the time of the accident at 11 p.m. local time, an hour and a half after the Xinhua report.

State news media says the boat, known as the Eastern Star, was carrying 405 Chinese passengers, 5 travel agency workers, and 47 crew, and could carry a maximum of 534 people.

A tugboat capsized on the Yangzte in January, killing 22.

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450 People Are Still Missing After a Passenger Ship Capsizes on China’s Yangzte River

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