Cyclone-like weather, with wind speeds up to 130 km/h, lead to the June 1 capsizing of the Eastern Star, a Chinese cruise ship travelling along the Yangtze River. The cruise in question began in Nanjing and was intended to arrive at Chongqing eleven days later, as a tour of a section of the the world’s third longest river. Passenger records for the boat show that the majority of the passengers were between the ages of 50 and 80.
The Friday morning following the incident, twenty-four hours after the last survivor was rescued, authorities finally gave the orders to set aright the capsized boat. Only 14 people were found alive after the disaster, included three trapped in air pockets underneath the hull who were rescued by divers. The total confirmed dead rose to 396 after the ship was returned, with 46 passengers that were aboard at the time of the accident remaining unaccounted for.
Heavy criticism surrounds the incident, as some reports suggest that the capsized ship has had records of cited safety violates in the past. In addition, the ship was not the only one present on the Yangtze River at the time of the storm, raising questions as to why this vessel in particular failed so catastrophically compared to other ships. Some media sources have suggested that the ship continued on its path down the Yangtze river even after weather warnings were given. Authorities have placed both the captain and first mate in police custody for questioning. They have reported the sinking to occur very rapidly, taking heavy water and sinking within only a few minutes.
The disaster is set to be one of the deadliest maritime accidents in the country in over sixty years. The last major incident was the sinking of the SS Kiangya in 1948 off the coast of Shanghai, a passenger steamship that exploded while carrying refugees fleeing during the Chinese civil war. The death tolls were unconfirmed, as official records did not account for the numerous stowaways on board. The range is cited to be between 2750 and 4000 people.
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