Rescue workers prepare to search the Jianli section of the Yangtze River for survivors.
Rescue workers prepare to search the Jianli section of the Yangtze River for survivors.
Image: Reuters/stringer

According to a released passenger list, the youngest was three years old. Over half of the passengers were above the age of 60. According to state media, the boat sank within 10 minutes, completely overturning. When the accident happened, seven people swam to shore and called police with the help of local fisherman, CCTV reported.

The travel agency that operated the tour, Xiehe Travel in Shanghai, closed its doors on Tuesday with a note that said those responsible for the tour were at the scene. Angry relatives of the missing passengers have started to collect outside the company’s office. The husband of one told local Shanghai media that the travel agency had not even notified him of the accident.

A relative of passengers on the ship which sank at the Jianli section of Yangtze River, in Hubei province, pulls the door of a closed office of Xiehe Travel in Shanghai.
A relative of passengers on the ship which sank at the Jianli section of Yangtze River, in Hubei province, pulls the door of a closed office of Xiehe Travel in Shanghai.
Image: Reuters/China Daily
A family member of passengers on the ship which sank at the Jianli section of Yangtze River, in Hubei province, cries outside a closed office of Xiehe Travel in Shanghai.
A family member of passengers on the ship which sank at the Jianli section of Yangtze River, in Hubei province, cries outside a closed office of Xiehe Travel in Shanghai.
Image: Reuters/China Daily

 

The ship, the Eastern Star yacht, was made by Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corp, which was established in the late 1960s. Boat tours and cruises along the Yangtze, the longest river in Asia which runs through 11 Chinese provinces, are common in China and accidents have happened before. In January, 22 people died when a tug boat in Jiangsu province suddenly overturned.

Zheping Huang and Josh Horwitz contributed reporting.

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