(LONDON GUARDIAN) More than 400 people on board the Eastern Star (or Dongfangzhixing) cruise ship remain missing. Most of the passengers on board were aged 50 to 80 years old.
The cause of the disaster is unknown, but it occurred during severe thunderstorms. The ship sunk in within two minutes according to survivors. The captain, who was one of the survivors said the ship was caught in a cyclone. He is being questioned by the authorities along with the ship’s chief engineer who also survived.
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Five bodies have been recovered from the stricken ferry, which was carrying 458 people when it went down at around 9.30pm on Monday night not far from the city of Jingzhou in Hubei province. Three bodies were recovered 50km from where the boat capsized.
