China’s state-controlled media reported Sunday that 11 passengers on the pleasure cruise from Nanjing to Chongquin were still missing and that 14 survived.
The ship, the Eastern Star, sank Monday night on the river as it passed through Jianli County in Hubei province, according to Cable News Network (CNN).
Nearly all the passengers were senior citizens, CNN said.
Preliminary reports say the ship was hit by a small tornado and overturned on the Yangtze, the world’s third-longest river, around 600 miles west of Shanghai.
Both the ship’s captain and chief engineer, who have been taken into custody but have not been charged, reported the ship encountering a “longjuanfeng,” a word that could mean cyclone or tornado, CNN said.
The captain and engineer reported the four-story Eastern Star sank within a few minutes of encountering the storm.
The capsized ship was righted on Friday, but no additional survivors have been found since last week despite a massive rescue operation involving hundreds of dozens of vessels and thousands of troops.
Also continuing is the investigation into what happened, which still is unexplained.
The Eastern Star was the only ship so badly affected by the storm on the river, which was crowded with traffic at the time of the sinking.
The Eastern Star’s operator, Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corp., issued a written apology through an attorney.
“I have been in deep pain since the start of the incident,” said the lawyer, Jiang Zhau,” CNN said.
“I felt extremely sorrowful for all people that perished.” he said.
