BEIJING, China – Twenty-one people have been confirmed dead
after a tugboat sank on a trial voyage on the Yangtze, China’s longest
river, state media reported today.
The vessel was raised today, 40 hours after it sank while undergoing
testing with 25 people, including eight foreigners, aboard in the
eastern province of Jiangsu on Thursday afternoon, state media said.
Three people have been rescued, with one still missing. All those on board were male.
Rescuers were still searching the cockpit of the newly-built boat and
along the river for the missing person, the report said.
A Singapore foreign ministry spokesman told AFP on yesterday that the
vessel was registered in the city-state and four of its nationals were
on board.
The Japanese and Indian consulates in Shanghai each confirmed to AFP that one of their nationals had also been on board.
Xinhua cited local authorities as saying two others on board were from Malaysia and Indonesia.
“Water entered the boat cabin very quickly, in less than 20 seconds
it was completely filled with water,” survivor Wang Zhenkai told state
television from his hospital bed.
Wang was accompanying a Japanese technician who was testing the
engine, though the ship was made and outfitted in China, reports said.
A photo carried by state media showed only the bow and part of the
hull of the metal ship floating above the waterline, with a salvage
barge alongside.
The accident occurred on a stretch of the river between the cities of
Jingjiang and Zhangjiagang, which is close to the Yangtze’s mouth near
the commercial hub Shanghai.
The provincial government said the boat was undergoing trials without properly completing the required procedures.
The provincial government said the boat was undergoing trials without properly completing the required procedures.
Source:-AFP
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