Editor's Note: A survivor from the “Eastern Star,” disaster from Shanghai has begun to speak to the press about what happened that night. This article, translated from the Chinese media tells the story of Hu Jianyue, a 54 year old man who was able to swim to safety. Hu said that he was quickly thrown out of the ship and was lucky enough to be near a life buoy. He was in the water for four hours in the wind and rain until he was rescued. He is the only survivor out of the 97 passengers from Shanghai. 456 passengers were on board the ship, and 14 survived.

54 year old Hu Jianyue was one of the few survivors of the “Eastern Star,” disaster. A single man, living in Shanghai's Baoshan District, Hu is now sought after by the media for his story from the night.

Hu was on the ship because his mother worried about him. He is not married, and lays around his room a bit too much. His mother was worried that he was getting depressed, so she gave him the money to buy the cruise ticket. He went on the trip to get out of the house, and get some fresh air.

On May 28, Hu set off from Nanjing on the boat, bunking with three other tourists from Shanghai. On June 1, the weather turned bad. Strong winds blew, and rain beat down on the river. Hu found the cabin to be too stuffy and went upstairs to watch a few others play mahjong in the game room.

A Terrible Storm

“The ship began to shake powerfully, the desks tilted and the mahjong pieces fell to the ground. We just wanted to ask what we should do. We tried to go out, but water suddenly started to come in. I was standing by the door. Before I could do anything, I was already in the river,” said Hu, describing the night of the disaster.

“The storm was so big. I was slapped in the face four times by waves. It was painful. My ears were full of water. With great difficulty, slowly, I realized that there were two life buoys not too far away from me. It was a miracle.”

Hu said that the ship sank extremely quickly. When he was in the water, struggling, looking for something to save himself, the ship was already two-thirds underwater.

Survival Instincts

“Humans have a survival instinct. I put the first life buoy around myself and put the other on a set of feet I saw floating near me in the river. Shortly after, I saw someone swimming nearby. I realized that he was a man I had met from Wuxi, and was still alive. He was a strong swimmer. At first I was scared that he would try to steal my life buoy, but instead he grabbed it with one hand and started to kick. There was no fight.”

The two men began swimming down the river, looking for rescue. A fishing boat who had heard about the disaster from police spotted them and called for help.

“We were only on the boat for a little more than a minute, but we were in the water for more than four hours,” said Hu. The fishing boat drove near the two men and alerted rescue workers. Soon, a rescue boat rushed over and saved the two men.

“When they put the rope down, I could not move. I do not remember how long I was in the river. A coast guard rescue worker came down the rope and lifted me up by my bottom. He hoisted me up into the boat. That day there was so much rain and wind, it was really dangerous for the rescue workers.”

A half an hour later, the captain boarded the rescue boat. He was quickly isolated to another room. “When we came up they let us take off our dirty clothes and gave us a blanket and a hot drink. When the captain came in they did not let him change out of his wet clothes. They just had him write down what happened and took him away.”

The Aftermath

Hu was then taken to a hotel in Jianli, Hubei. The local government helped him settle in. “They bought me clothing, shoes, socks, and dress pants, and gave me a cell phone to call home and say that I was safe.” 

“We did not know what had happened until he called us,” said Hu's mother.

Neighbors had seen on television that Hu had survived the disaster and all went to talk to the old couple. The media also contacted them. Hu's parents suddenly became very busy with friends and press.

“You see, the government cares. We saw Mayor Zhao on television express sympathy for my son. We are very grateful. Thank you,” said Hu's 83 year old father Hu Guanbao.

Neighbors and friends have sent their gifts and condolences to Hu's parents. The community police brought temporary ID card for Hu to his parent's house in Shanghai's Minghang district early the next day.

“There were several three year old children. They were so cute. The other staff on board were very young, in their early thirties. Probably all gone.” said Hu, thinking of the 97 other passengers from Shanghai. It is likely that he is the only survivor from Shanghai.

Hu looked down sadly. “I really want to do something for them, but I do not know what to do. Can you please use the media to help mourn them? I had a room with a few people, we all got along really well. We were on the trip together for five days. There was one 65 year old guy who was also from Baoshan that I wanted to keep in touch with and hang out with again. Now, they say he most likely did not survive.”

“We don't know if we should find him a partner, let it be, or keep a close eye on him,” whispered Hu's mother Wang Yueqing. That night, Hu left his parents home were he had been stayed and checked into a nearby hotel.

Source: Wenxue City

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Keywords: Eastern Star passengers Eastern Star survivors