Hopes of finding any more survivors in modern China’s worst aquatic tragedy were fading rapidly on Wednesday as rescue workers prepared to cut open the hull of a stricken cruise ship.
The Dongfangzhixing, or Eastern Star, capsized on Monday night on a section of the Yangtze river. The cruise ship was carrying 458 passengers and crew, most of them elderly tourists from eastern China, towards the scenic Three Gorges area.
As of Wednesday afternoon there were only 26 confirmed dead and 14 survivors. Most of them managed to escape as the ship turned over, with only two found alive in air pockets some 15 hours after the tragedy and pulled to safety.