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| Chinese workers face grim task recovering bodies from Eastern Star | Chinese workers face grim task recovering bodies from Eastern Star |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The boat powered south under a leaden sky towards the scene of China’s worst shipping catastrophe in 70 years. | |
| Ahead lay the wreck of the Eastern Star, the cruise ship that capsized and sank on Monday night, plunging its 456 occupants – many of them elderly tourists – into the Yangtze’s gloomy swell. | Ahead lay the wreck of the Eastern Star, the cruise ship that capsized and sank on Monday night, plunging its 456 occupants – many of them elderly tourists – into the Yangtze’s gloomy swell. |
| On Thursday afternoon the vessel’s upended body poked from the water like a submarine resurfacing from the depths of what the Chinese call their Chang Jiang or Long River. | On Thursday afternoon the vessel’s upended body poked from the water like a submarine resurfacing from the depths of what the Chinese call their Chang Jiang or Long River. |
| Orange-clad rescue workers straddled the hull while navy divers searched the underwater graveyard below. Sparks flew as welders attached bollard-sized hooks to the vessel’s bottom with which, officials hoped, to lift it from the water. | Orange-clad rescue workers straddled the hull while navy divers searched the underwater graveyard below. Sparks flew as welders attached bollard-sized hooks to the vessel’s bottom with which, officials hoped, to lift it from the water. |
| “Life is the most precious thing. Our rescuers are doing the utmost to save more people,” Li Keqiang, the prime minister, was quoted as saying by state media as hope of finding more survivors all but ran out. | “Life is the most precious thing. Our rescuers are doing the utmost to save more people,” Li Keqiang, the prime minister, was quoted as saying by state media as hope of finding more survivors all but ran out. |
| The rescue mission – now in its third day and looking increasingly like a recovery operation – made grim viewing. | The rescue mission – now in its third day and looking increasingly like a recovery operation – made grim viewing. |
| Yet the more shocking scene lay 200 metres upstream, where two dozen workers sat under a blue tarpaulin, in three neat rows. | Yet the more shocking scene lay 200 metres upstream, where two dozen workers sat under a blue tarpaulin, in three neat rows. |
| The group wore identical uniforms – black Wellingtons, white face-masks, elbow-length yellow rubber gloves – and each member had the same bleak task: to bring ashore the bodies of the hundreds of people now believed to have died. | The group wore identical uniforms – black Wellingtons, white face-masks, elbow-length yellow rubber gloves – and each member had the same bleak task: to bring ashore the bodies of the hundreds of people now believed to have died. |
| So far only 14 survivors have been found, and since Tuesday lunchtime only bodies have been pulled from the sunken ship. “It is getting more and more difficult,” Dong Yan, a deputy navy commander, admitted in an interview with state media. | So far only 14 survivors have been found, and since Tuesday lunchtime only bodies have been pulled from the sunken ship. “It is getting more and more difficult,” Dong Yan, a deputy navy commander, admitted in an interview with state media. |
| At least 46 bodies were pulled from the shell of the Eastern Star on Thursday, the day the Guardian visited the disaster site on a vessel chartered by Chinese officials. | At least 46 bodies were pulled from the shell of the Eastern Star on Thursday, the day the Guardian visited the disaster site on a vessel chartered by Chinese officials. |
| The dead were carried down a muddy riverside path to a large white tent and then dispatched in a fleet of minivans to a nearby crematorium. There, undertakers and pathologists were waiting behind a wall of camouflage-wearing soldiers. | The dead were carried down a muddy riverside path to a large white tent and then dispatched in a fleet of minivans to a nearby crematorium. There, undertakers and pathologists were waiting behind a wall of camouflage-wearing soldiers. |
| As relatives waited to hear if their loved-ones were among the 77 now confirmed dead, questions grew over why the ship’s captain had chosen to sail into a severe rainstorm that officials have indicated was to blame for the disaster. | As relatives waited to hear if their loved-ones were among the 77 now confirmed dead, questions grew over why the ship’s captain had chosen to sail into a severe rainstorm that officials have indicated was to blame for the disaster. |
| “All the other ships – even the cargo ships – knew to wait for the storm to pass,” said Liu Gang, a 38-year-old from Jiangsu province whose mother was on the boat. “Why didn’t this one stop?” | “All the other ships – even the cargo ships – knew to wait for the storm to pass,” said Liu Gang, a 38-year-old from Jiangsu province whose mother was on the boat. “Why didn’t this one stop?” |
| There were questions too about the company that operated the boat – Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corp – after it emerged that the sunken ship had been cited for safety violations two years earlier by maritime officials. | There were questions too about the company that operated the boat – Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corp – after it emerged that the sunken ship had been cited for safety violations two years earlier by maritime officials. |
| Xi Jinping, the president, convened a special meeting of the elite Politburo standing committee and ordered a “serious investigation” into the tragedy’s causes. | Xi Jinping, the president, convened a special meeting of the elite Politburo standing committee and ordered a “serious investigation” into the tragedy’s causes. |
| “We will never shield mistakes and we’ll absolutely not cover up anything,” Xu Chengguang, a ministry of transport spokesperson, told a press conference. | “We will never shield mistakes and we’ll absolutely not cover up anything,” Xu Chengguang, a ministry of transport spokesperson, told a press conference. |
| China’s Communist party leaders have poured huge manpower and resources into the region following Monday’s tragedy. | China’s Communist party leaders have poured huge manpower and resources into the region following Monday’s tragedy. |
| Hundreds of troops and security officials can be seen on the streets of Jianli, the town closest to the disaster. Excavators and bulldozers line the country roads leading to rescue camps on the banks of the Yangtze. | Hundreds of troops and security officials can be seen on the streets of Jianli, the town closest to the disaster. Excavators and bulldozers line the country roads leading to rescue camps on the banks of the Yangtze. |
| People’s Liberation Army engineers have laid 8,000 cubic metres of road to help rescuers reach the area, state-run CCTV reported on Thursday, and 10,000 cubic metres of sludge have been cleared. | People’s Liberation Army engineers have laid 8,000 cubic metres of road to help rescuers reach the area, state-run CCTV reported on Thursday, and 10,000 cubic metres of sludge have been cleared. |
| Propaganda chiefs in Beijing have spun that response as an unmistakable sign of the party’s commitment to its people. “Xi Jinping gave instructions instantly while Premier Li Keqiang arrived at the scene to direct the rescue efforts in short order,” said an editorial in the state-run Global Times, praising the “speedy rescue efforts”. | Propaganda chiefs in Beijing have spun that response as an unmistakable sign of the party’s commitment to its people. “Xi Jinping gave instructions instantly while Premier Li Keqiang arrived at the scene to direct the rescue efforts in short order,” said an editorial in the state-run Global Times, praising the “speedy rescue efforts”. |
| Yet in Jianli there is also deep anger at the government, with some relatives accusing local officials of either offering them insufficient information about the rescue effort or hounding them to stay silent in their hour of need. “We are followed everywhere we go, even if we just want to pop out to buy things from the shop,” one family member told the Guardian. | Yet in Jianli there is also deep anger at the government, with some relatives accusing local officials of either offering them insufficient information about the rescue effort or hounding them to stay silent in their hour of need. “We are followed everywhere we go, even if we just want to pop out to buy things from the shop,” one family member told the Guardian. |
| In the early hours of Thursday around 50 family members staged a midnight march to the banks of the Yangtze in protest. | In the early hours of Thursday around 50 family members staged a midnight march to the banks of the Yangtze in protest. |
| “The boat is still upside down. The politicians are just making speeches,” one elderly woman, whose 78-year-old husband was on the boat, told CNN. | “The boat is still upside down. The politicians are just making speeches,” one elderly woman, whose 78-year-old husband was on the boat, told CNN. |
| There were more angry scenes as relatives flocked to a funeral parlour in Jianli hoping to identify their dead relatives but were told they could not come in. | There were more angry scenes as relatives flocked to a funeral parlour in Jianli hoping to identify their dead relatives but were told they could not come in. |
| One woman broke down in tears after she was blocked from entering the heavily guarded compound to search for her 63-year-old mother, who had been holidaying with a group of pensioner friends. | One woman broke down in tears after she was blocked from entering the heavily guarded compound to search for her 63-year-old mother, who had been holidaying with a group of pensioner friends. |
| “They won’t tell us anything. We don’t know anything,” the woman said, after arriving at a reception centre for the bereaved in a tent outside the crematorium. | “They won’t tell us anything. We don’t know anything,” the woman said, after arriving at a reception centre for the bereaved in a tent outside the crematorium. |
| When officials insisted she would not be allowed to see the bodies that had already arrived the woman erupted in a fit of rage. | When officials insisted she would not be allowed to see the bodies that had already arrived the woman erupted in a fit of rage. |
| “Don’t we have human rights? Why won’t you let us see the bodies?” she screamed. “You have found the bodies so why won’t you let us see them? Don’t we have any human rights in China? It’s my own mother. Why can’t I see her?” | “Don’t we have human rights? Why won’t you let us see the bodies?” she screamed. “You have found the bodies so why won’t you let us see them? Don’t we have any human rights in China? It’s my own mother. Why can’t I see her?” |
| As a convoy of vans set off to gather more bodies from the riverside mortuary, the woman’s husband lost his temper. “Someone from our family has died, don’t you know?” he told the officials. “You can’t just cremate the body and give us a box of ashes.” | As a convoy of vans set off to gather more bodies from the riverside mortuary, the woman’s husband lost his temper. “Someone from our family has died, don’t you know?” he told the officials. “You can’t just cremate the body and give us a box of ashes.” |
| Additional reporting by Luna Lin | Additional reporting by Luna Lin |