“Eastern Star,” a small cruise ship carrying 456 passengers, was hit by a tornado and capsized in the Yangtze River on the night of June 1.

Rescue efforts for this kind of disaster generally last 72 hours, according to international practices. Rescuers are still doing everything possible to find survivors. Here are the details on the rescue effort so far:

1) By 8 am this morning, rescue teams had found 14 survivors and 65 bodies.

2) The disaster site has been plagued by bad weather. A storm early this morning made rescue efforts more difficult.

3) Rescuers cut into the ship's hull to search for survivors. The search of the first cut point has been completed and no survivors were found. Rescuers welded the ship back together to keep it stable, and cut into a second section of the ship early this morning.

4) Last night into this morning, 202 divers searched the wreckage in three shifts. The direction of the search has now shifted to the other side of the hull.

5) The search range has been extended 220 kilometers downstream. The local government and villagers along the river are helping with rescue efforts.

6)  Last night, more than two hundred family members of passengers entered Jianli. Jianli sent more than 400 staff to receive them.

Source: ifeng.com

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Keywords: Eastern Star Yangtze cruise ship Yangtze tornado Jianli