Twenty-one dead, one still missing after tugboat sinks in China’s Yangtze River (Source: The Star Online - Malaysia)

Posted:  January 17, 2015 MYT 12:35:00 PM

Search and rescue team operate on an overturned tugboat in the Yangtze River, Jingjiang city, Jiangsu province, China, 17 January 2015. - EPA

BEIJING: 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 Saturday.

The vessel was raised Saturday, 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, Xinhua news agency said, 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, without giving his nationality.

The Malaysian Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed Saturday that a Malaysian was missing following the incident.

Wisma Putra said it was trying to get more information from the local authorities on the incident through the Malaysian Consulate General in Shanghai.

Chinese media have identified the Malaysian onboard the vessel as Cheong Kin Chin.

“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 Friday 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 and without first reporting the condition of the ship, as required by regulations. – AFP

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/01/17/Yangtze-River-accident-21-confirmed-dead/
The Star - Malaysia