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A Singaporean, Japanese nationals and a Frenchman, are among more than 20 people still missing after a tug boat overturned and sank in the Yangtze River last night. Photo: Xinhua
A Singaporean, Japanese nationals and a Frenchman are among more than 20 people still missing after a tugboat overturned while on a trial voyage in China’s vast Yangtze river yesterday, state media and authorities said.
Three people were rescued, but the search for other survivors in the fast-flowing river was continuing.
Rescuers, who believe there are people trapped in the overturned cabin, were using a crane to lift the overturned boat out of the water, reports said.
Seven or eight foreigners, including a Singaporean, Japanese nationals and a Frenchman, are believed to be among the missing after the tug boat, with about 25 people on aboard, overturned during testing at about 3pm, authorities said this morning.
At least 23 vessels, including patrol boats and tug boats, have been carrying out a careful search for the missing people in the area where the boat capsized.
However, Xinhua quoted rescuers saying that their search was being hampered by strong river currents and freezing water temperatures.
The new vessel was undergoing testing in the eastern province of Jiangsu with the owner and technicians aboard, Xinhua said.
The tug boat overturned and sank in the Yangtze River last night while on a trail voyage. Photo: Xinhua
“Singaporean and Japanese nationals are confirmed among the missing people and a Frenchman may also be lost,” Xinhua said.
Wang Chenkai, one of the three people rescued, told Xinhua that he had been onboard as the interpreter for a Japanese engineer.
"Only the two of us were in the cockpit," he said.
"We had just finished [a test] of the main engine of the boat when the vessel suddenly slid over. Water immediately flowed in," Wang said.
He said he had survived by holding on to a hydraulic pump as the boat capsized.
Wang said he had taken hold of the Japanese engineer for only a moment before the river's swirling current pulled them apart again as the boat started sinking.
Xinhua reported that boat was built by Anhui Bengbu Shenzhou Machinery Co in October.
Media reports said the accident occurred on a stretch of the river, Asia’s longest, under the jurisdiction of Zhangjiagang city.
The provincial government said the boat had been undergoing trials without notifying the authorities, and without first reporting the condition of the vessel.
Re: Singaporean, Jap & French among more than 20 missing after tug boat capsizes in C
Three rescued, 22 missing after boat sinks in China's Yangtze River
Xinhua
2015-01-16
Rescue workers on the capsized boat, Jan. 16. (Photo/CNS)
Rescuers have saved three people after a tug boat sank on the Yangtze River in east China's Jiangsu province on Thursday, said local rescue headquarters.
Twenty-five people aboard the boat fell into the water, including eight foreigners–four Singaporeans, an Indonesian, a Malaysian, an Indian and a Japanese national–when it sank while conducting tests in the Fubei Channel, near Jingjiang, on the Yangtze River at about 3pm Thursday, according to the provincial maritime rescue center.
About 30 professional vessels, including patrol boats and tug boats, have been dispatched to search for the 22 missing people near the spot where the boat sank.
Rescuers are trying to stabilize the capsized boat and lift it out of the water by crane. However, rescue work has been difficult due to the swift current and cold water.
Wang Zhenkai, one of the three rescued, told Xinhua reporters that he was the interpreter for a 60-year-old Japanese engineer.
"Only the two of us were in the cockpit. We had just finished the load test of the boat's main engine when the vessel suddenly turned on its side. Water immediately flooded in," he said.
Wang, from Yantai, Shandong province, was saved at 5:36am after rescuers cut through the bottom of the boat. He has been hospitalized and is in stable condition.
He survived by clinging to a hydraulic pump. Wang said he grabbed the Japanese engineer, but later the current broke their grasp as the boat started to sink.
Zhang Lei, vice governor of Jiangsu, and Li Shixin, vice director of the National Maritime Bureau, are overseeing the on-site rescue work. Diplomatic staff have arrived to help verify the identities of the foreign nationals on board the vessel.
The 30-meter-long boat, with a weight of 368 tonnes, was manufactured by Anhui Bengbu Shenzhou Machinery Company in October. The company did not report the vessel's route or testing plans to port authorities.
