Events
Only a few survived.
On the evening of June 1, the ship Zvezda Vostoka was shipwrecked on the Yangtze River.
Hundreds of people are missing after a tour boat carrying 457 people sank on a river in central China.
Natural disaster
Five bodies were recovered from the sunken ship and at least 15 people were rescued, including the ship's captain and chief engineer, who were detained, according to Chinese state media.
A few hours after the incident, which occurred on Monday night (21:28 local time), a large number of passengers remained alive inside the Vostochnaya Zvezda vessel.
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Several rescuers and divers knocked on the ship, trying to communicate with potential survivors inside.
The China Daily newspaper reported that a sixty-year-old living woman was pulled out of the water at 9:56pm local time. On Tuesday, it was revealed that at least three living people are inside the capsized ship. Later, another person was raised, the newspaper reports.
As it turned out, the ship capsized as a result of a strong cyclone in Hubei Province. Chinese meteorological services have been instructed to study the weather conditions at the time of the accident.
Seven people managed to swim to shore and report the shipwreck to the police.
Rescue operation
State media reported that more than 2,000 soldiers and police officers are taking part in search and rescue operations, which are complicated by high winds and rain. More than 150 vessels were also involved in the event.
Most of the passengers were tourists between the ages of 50 and 80 (they were just about to go to bed during the shipwreck).
There were 405 Chinese citizens on board, 5 travel agency employees and 47 crew members en route from Nanjing to Chongqing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said that any funds would be involved in search and rescue operations, and Premier Li Keqiang personally went to the crash area.
Yangtze River disasters
Note: this is not the first major disaster that has occurred in China on the Yangtze River. People often take vacations that include a trip to the Yangtze River, which is one of the most popular sightseeing destinations.
Thus, in 1871, the water in this river rose 80 m above normal levels.
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In 1931, water demolished 5,500,000 homes, and the flood affected about 60,000,000 people, while more than 140,000 people drowned.
23 years later, history repeated itself, only this time the water level in the Yangtze River rose even higher and reached 30 meters.
In September 2012, the river overflowed again after heavy rains, as a result of which about 40 settlements were flooded.