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| More Bodies Are Found as Yangtze Ship Is Lifted | |
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| BEIJING — With no hope of finding survivors in the submerged hull of a Yangtze River cruise ship that capsized this week with 456 people aboard, officials turned their attention on Friday to recovering the dead, employing two huge cranes to right the vessel. | BEIJING — With no hope of finding survivors in the submerged hull of a Yangtze River cruise ship that capsized this week with 456 people aboard, officials turned their attention on Friday to recovering the dead, employing two huge cranes to right the vessel. |
| Four days after the ship, the Oriental Star, flipped over in a ferocious storm, leaving 442 dead or missing, Chinese state television showed its three top decks emerging from the muddy waters of the river, lifted by the 500-ton cranes. A portion of its blue roof was crumpled, though it was unclear whether the damage occurred when it capsized or during efforts to turn it right side up. | Four days after the ship, the Oriental Star, flipped over in a ferocious storm, leaving 442 dead or missing, Chinese state television showed its three top decks emerging from the muddy waters of the river, lifted by the 500-ton cranes. A portion of its blue roof was crumpled, though it was unclear whether the damage occurred when it capsized or during efforts to turn it right side up. |
| Relatives of the missing passengers and crew members who gathered in Jianli, the city closest to the shipwreck, continued to express frustration with the authorities, saying they were being kept in the dark about rescue and recovery efforts. During a news conference organized by government officials, several distraught family members burst into the room and demanded to speak to reporters before being ushered out by officials. A number of victims’ relatives have described being trailed by government minders and instructed not to speak to journalists. | Relatives of the missing passengers and crew members who gathered in Jianli, the city closest to the shipwreck, continued to express frustration with the authorities, saying they were being kept in the dark about rescue and recovery efforts. During a news conference organized by government officials, several distraught family members burst into the room and demanded to speak to reporters before being ushered out by officials. A number of victims’ relatives have described being trailed by government minders and instructed not to speak to journalists. |
| State news media reported that 97 bodies had been recovered by Friday morning. Officials have not given foreign journalists access to any of the 14 people who survived, but the state-run Xinhua news agency released interviews with several of those who escaped when the ship overturned Monday night, including its captain and chief engineer. At least four of the survivors were crew members, and a fifth has been described as a tour guide. Many of the passengers were elderly. | State news media reported that 97 bodies had been recovered by Friday morning. Officials have not given foreign journalists access to any of the 14 people who survived, but the state-run Xinhua news agency released interviews with several of those who escaped when the ship overturned Monday night, including its captain and chief engineer. At least four of the survivors were crew members, and a fifth has been described as a tour guide. Many of the passengers were elderly. |
| In an interview published late on Thursday, the captain, Zhang Shunwen, 52, said he tried to steer the ship through the violent storm but lost control of it as he headed north with the prevailing winds. As the wheelhouse filled with water, Mr. Zhang felt his way out and then made his way to the upturned hull, Xinhua said. | In an interview published late on Thursday, the captain, Zhang Shunwen, 52, said he tried to steer the ship through the violent storm but lost control of it as he headed north with the prevailing winds. As the wheelhouse filled with water, Mr. Zhang felt his way out and then made his way to the upturned hull, Xinhua said. |
| In the report, Mr. Zhang did not address a number of questions, including why he continued to sail when other ships had dropped anchor to ride out what meteorologists have described as an unusually severe storm, including a rare tornado that swept through the area. | In the report, Mr. Zhang did not address a number of questions, including why he continued to sail when other ships had dropped anchor to ride out what meteorologists have described as an unusually severe storm, including a rare tornado that swept through the area. |
| Also unanswered is whether any passengers were instructed to don life jackets in the moments before the ship capsized. | Also unanswered is whether any passengers were instructed to don life jackets in the moments before the ship capsized. |
| The report said that Mr. Zhang was in police custody but that he had not been charged with any crime. It said that Mr. Zhang’s wife, who also worked on the ship, was among the missing. | The report said that Mr. Zhang was in police custody but that he had not been charged with any crime. It said that Mr. Zhang’s wife, who also worked on the ship, was among the missing. |
| “Until the incident, Zhang was regarded as an effective captain and his experience as a sailor was flawless with numerous awards,” Xinhua said, adding that he had 35 years of experience as a riverboat captain. | “Until the incident, Zhang was regarded as an effective captain and his experience as a sailor was flawless with numerous awards,” Xinhua said, adding that he had 35 years of experience as a riverboat captain. |
| Two other crew members described the final moments before the ship capsized, suggesting there was little time to save the ship or warn passengers of the impending catastrophe. According to a state-run newspaper in Wuhan, Cheng Lin, the first officer, said that he was taking a shower as the storm gathered strength and rushed to the navigation room around 9:10 p.m. Moments later, he said, water began rushing into the room, and the lights went out. He found himself in the river and, when he turned around, saw the hull of the 250-foot ship. | Two other crew members described the final moments before the ship capsized, suggesting there was little time to save the ship or warn passengers of the impending catastrophe. According to a state-run newspaper in Wuhan, Cheng Lin, the first officer, said that he was taking a shower as the storm gathered strength and rushed to the navigation room around 9:10 p.m. Moments later, he said, water began rushing into the room, and the lights went out. He found himself in the river and, when he turned around, saw the hull of the 250-foot ship. |
| In another account, published by Xinhua on Friday, Wu Jianqiang, a 58-year-old passenger described as an illiterate farmer from Tianjin, said that he and his wife were in their cabin when rainwater began pouring through the windows. He said an attendant began making the rounds, urging passengers to move their beds away from the windows and toward the doors to protect them from water damage. Moments later, he said, the ship began to tilt, and one of the beds slid, pinning his wife against a wall. | In another account, published by Xinhua on Friday, Wu Jianqiang, a 58-year-old passenger described as an illiterate farmer from Tianjin, said that he and his wife were in their cabin when rainwater began pouring through the windows. He said an attendant began making the rounds, urging passengers to move their beds away from the windows and toward the doors to protect them from water damage. Moments later, he said, the ship began to tilt, and one of the beds slid, pinning his wife against a wall. |
| “I could feel my feet slipping from beneath me, but the bed I was on stayed in place,” he said, according to the English version of the article. “So I stretched out my hands to my wife, but our fingers never met.” | “I could feel my feet slipping from beneath me, but the bed I was on stayed in place,” he said, according to the English version of the article. “So I stretched out my hands to my wife, but our fingers never met.” |
| “Then the rug struck me on my head, and I knew the ship must have capsized,” he said. | “Then the rug struck me on my head, and I knew the ship must have capsized,” he said. |
| With water surging into the cabin, Mr. Wu said, he made his way to the window, opened it and was sucked out. “It all happened within a minute,” he said. | With water surging into the cabin, Mr. Wu said, he made his way to the window, opened it and was sucked out. “It all happened within a minute,” he said. |
| He said he crawled onto the overturned hull of the ship, joining four other survivors. His wife remains missing. | He said he crawled onto the overturned hull of the ship, joining four other survivors. His wife remains missing. |
| The details of Mr. Wu’s account, however, contained a number of discrepancies that raised questions about the state news media’s reporting on the disaster. He said the passengers that day had lingered at the final stop, a tourist attraction along the banks of the river, until 6 p.m. — other accounts said they had returned to the ship seven hours earlier — and the Chinese version of his account described him clasping hands with his wife as the ship began to keel. | The details of Mr. Wu’s account, however, contained a number of discrepancies that raised questions about the state news media’s reporting on the disaster. He said the passengers that day had lingered at the final stop, a tourist attraction along the banks of the river, until 6 p.m. — other accounts said they had returned to the ship seven hours earlier — and the Chinese version of his account described him clasping hands with his wife as the ship began to keel. |
| Some relatives of the victims have questioned official accounts of the boat’s final moments, and in a letter posted online Friday, several family members demanded that the captain be prosecuted and sentenced to death. | Some relatives of the victims have questioned official accounts of the boat’s final moments, and in a letter posted online Friday, several family members demanded that the captain be prosecuted and sentenced to death. |
| In an email to a friend, another relative, Cui Yuchen, asked why the captain had decided to continue sailing through the storm and why furniture on the ship was not bolted to the floor. Ms. Cui, who later confirmed the email’s contents, also questioned whether moving so many beds at once had contributed to the vessel’s instability. “In such terrible weather, shouldn’t the captain have given safety instructions to everyone on board, especially when he knew there were lots of old people on board?” she wrote. | In an email to a friend, another relative, Cui Yuchen, asked why the captain had decided to continue sailing through the storm and why furniture on the ship was not bolted to the floor. Ms. Cui, who later confirmed the email’s contents, also questioned whether moving so many beds at once had contributed to the vessel’s instability. “In such terrible weather, shouldn’t the captain have given safety instructions to everyone on board, especially when he knew there were lots of old people on board?” she wrote. |
| With little hope of seeing their loved ones alive again, the roughly 1,200 people who have gathered in Jianli have directed their growing anger toward local officials. In a letter that family members distributed to reporters and that was posted online Friday by the Phoenix News, an outlet based in Hong Kong, they demanded that the bodies be returned to them, rather than cremated as rumored, so they could bury them at home. | With little hope of seeing their loved ones alive again, the roughly 1,200 people who have gathered in Jianli have directed their growing anger toward local officials. In a letter that family members distributed to reporters and that was posted online Friday by the Phoenix News, an outlet based in Hong Kong, they demanded that the bodies be returned to them, rather than cremated as rumored, so they could bury them at home. |
| “We hope the bodies of our kin can be returned to us,” said the letter, which was quickly deleted. | “We hope the bodies of our kin can be returned to us,” said the letter, which was quickly deleted. |
| Such criticisms have not appeared in the Chinese news media, which has focused on the heroic rescue efforts and described how local residents in Jianli tied yellow ribbons to their cars to signify their willingness to give rides to the bereaved. | Such criticisms have not appeared in the Chinese news media, which has focused on the heroic rescue efforts and described how local residents in Jianli tied yellow ribbons to their cars to signify their willingness to give rides to the bereaved. |
| In an editorial on Friday, The Global Times, a newspaper owned by People’s Daily, the official Communist Party mouthpiece, chastised the foreign news media for highlighting the complaints of victims’ relatives. | In an editorial on Friday, The Global Times, a newspaper owned by People’s Daily, the official Communist Party mouthpiece, chastised the foreign news media for highlighting the complaints of victims’ relatives. |
| “Some foreign media outlets have started to find faults in the rescue and relief work, weaving detailed accounts of disappointment and complaints and fabricating disagreements and conflicts centered on the incident,” the newspaper said. “Some foreign media outlets are eager to take advantage of the relatives’ agony and rub salt into their wounds, creating confrontations between people at the center of the event and those at the periphery. This is really unkind.” | “Some foreign media outlets have started to find faults in the rescue and relief work, weaving detailed accounts of disappointment and complaints and fabricating disagreements and conflicts centered on the incident,” the newspaper said. “Some foreign media outlets are eager to take advantage of the relatives’ agony and rub salt into their wounds, creating confrontations between people at the center of the event and those at the periphery. This is really unkind.” |