China ship carrying 458 on board sinks in Yangtze River: Five dead, hundreds missing

Beijing: In what could be China's worst disasters in years, a ship with over 400 people on board sank after being caught in a storm on the Yangtze River in China's southern Hubei province on Monday night, leaving at least five people dead and hundreds unaccounted for.

Only 15 people have been rescued so far, said the CCTV news. Survivors include an elderly woman aged 65, whose rescue was hailed by the PM as a miracle. 

The ship - four-tier Dongfangzhixing (meaning Eastern Star) - carrying 458 people was travelling from the eastern city of Nanjing to Chongqing in the south-west when it sank in the Damazhou section of the Yangtze in Jianli county at 9:30 pm local time on Monday night.

The ship that was subverted upside down, did not send out an SOS signal before sinking, the BBC reported.

The Captain and chief engineer of the ship, who have been rescued and taken into custody, said that the ship was caught in the cyclone, state media reported.

The rescuers could still hear shouts of help coming from the sunken ship. 

The initial inputs coming out of the investigation say that the ship was not overloaded and had sufficient life jackets. All those rescued were wearing life jackets, the ministry was reported as saying.

Of 458 passengers, 405 were Chinese passengers, five travel agency employees and 47 crew.

According to State broadcaster CCTV, that cited local media reports most of the passengers are elderly, aged between 50 and 80 years.

Also, there were also 97 tourists on board the ship, who were on a tour organised by Shanghai Xiehe Travel Agency, reported the CCTV news.

President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out efforts in rescue work however the search and recovery operation is facing obstacles due to rough weather.

Premier Li Keqiang, along with Vice Premier Ma Kai and State Councilor Yang Jing, has left for the site of the accident and said that saving lives was the top priority, reported the Xinhua.

Over 1000 armed soldiers have been sent to salvage the ship along with a high-powered rescue vessel.

Also, Navy frogmen, local militia and helicopters have joined the rescue operations.

Meanwhile, relatives of the passengers are anxious and waiting for their loved ones to come ashore.