Jianli/China: Scores of divers cautiously searched a capsized ship in the Yangtze River on Wednesday for more than 400 missing people, many of them elderly, as the death toll in what could be China's worst shipping disaster in almost 70 years jumped to 18.
State television showed rescuers, some standing gingerly on the upturned hull of the Eastern Star cruise ship, working through the night. Only 14 people, including the ship's captain, have been found alive since the ship capsized in a freak tornado on Monday night with 456 on board.
Rescuers appear not to have given up hope, even though about 200 divers face difficulties such as cabin doors blocked by tables and beds. There is also the fear that rashly cutting holes in the hull could burst air pockets keeping people alive.
"We're putting all our efforts into the rescue work," naval commander Hui Dongyan told the official Hubei Daily.
The last major disaster of this kind in East Asia was the sinking of a ferry in South Korea in 2014 that killed 304 people, most of them teenagers on a school trip.
The Yangtze search area has been expanded up to 220 km (135 miles) downstream, state television said, suggesting that many bodies could have been swept far away from where the ship foundered in the rain-swollen river.
Three of the bodies were found 50 km (30 miles) away near Yueyang city in neighbouring Hunan province, state media said.
Zou Luwang, who lives in a village near the river, said the government had called residents to warn of extreme weather conditions on the night the ship capsized.
"I believe those who operate the boats have expertise about this, but the weather was unusually bad for these parts," he told.
Zhang Hui, a tour guide who survived the disaster, told the official Xinhua news agency that it was raining so hard water was seeping through cabin windows, and that the ship then listed violently.
"I thought, 'this isn't right', and I told my colleague, 'I think we're in trouble'. After I said that, the ship flipped over. It only took 30 seconds or a minute," Zhang said.
Li Yongjun, the captain of a freighter that passed near the Eastern Star shortly before it capsized, told Xinhua the weather was so bad he decided to anchor and wait out the storm.
"The visibility was terrible, like being in fog, and the rain was interfering with the radar so you couldn't make anything out," Li said.
He said he heard a voice from the river crying, "Help!" just after 10 pm (1600 GMT), about 30 minutes after state media has said the Eastern Star capsized.
"The rain was just too heavy, there was no way to mount a rescue, so I shouted over, 'swim to the bank!'," Li said.
DISTRAUGHT RELATIVES PROTEST
The ship's captain and the chief engineer have been detained by police for questioning. An initial investigation found the ship was not overloaded and had enough life vests on board.
The ship overturned "within one or two minutes", Xinhua quoted the captain as saying. He was dragged out of the water near a pier just before midnight on Monday.
Relatives of the missing, angry at what they perceive as a lack of information, have scuffled with officials in Shanghai. All of the passengers on board had booked their trips through a Shanghai-based travel agency.
About two dozen family members, some crying and others shouting "help us", marched down streets in central Shanghai on Wednesday towards the main government office watched by a heavy police presence.
A passenger manifest carried by state media showed those on board the Eastern Star ranged in age from three to more than 80.
Premier Li Keqiang, who rushed to the scene to oversee rescue efforts, called for "regular and transparent updates" on the rescue and investigation, and said authorities must ensure adequate personnel and funding.
China's weather bureau said a tornado had buffeted the area where the ship was cruising, a freak occurrence in a country where twisters can happen but are uncommon.
The Eastern Star, which had the capacity to carry more than 500 people, was heading to the southwestern city of Chongqing from Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.
Accidents of this magnitude are uncommon in China. State media said it was the worst recorded ship disaster on the Yangtze River. In 1948, the steamship Kiangya blew up on the Huangpu river, killing more than 1,000 people.
The Eastern Star is owned by the Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corporation, which runs tours along the Three Gorges section of the Yangtze.
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