Yangtze River ship righted, search is now for bodies

The death toll from a Chinese cruise ship that capsized on the Yangtze River has climbed, state media said on Friday, as authorities righted the battered vessel and said there was no chance of finding anyone else alive.

Divers found more bodies as they worked overnight to attach iron chains to the vessel, bringing the total number of bodies found to 97, Transport Ministry spokesman Xu Chengguang said.

The operation to right the Eastern Star started late Thursday and shifted the focus from finding survivors from Monday night's sudden capsizing in a severe storm to retrieving bodies. The boat was righted Friday morning, and the next step is draining the water inside before salvaging the ship, while also finding and identifying bodies, Xu told a news conference.

Xu said earlier that the operation involved divers putting bars underneath the ship, which would then be lifted by two 500-ton cranes. A huge net was placed near the cranes and another one a few yards downstream to catch any bodies.

Two smaller cranes were also on site and boats were stopped from entering the area.

Authorities say 14 people survived including the ship's captain and chief engineer, both of whom have been taken into police custody.

Many of the more than 450 people on board the multi-decked, 251-foot-long Eastern Star were retirees taking in the scenic vistas of the Yangtze on a cruise from Nanjing to the southwestern city of Chongqing.

The Eastern Star tragedy will likely become the country's deadliest boat disaster in seven decades, and Chinese authorities have launched a high-profile response that has included sending Premier Li Keqiang to the accident site, while tightly controlling media coverage.

The Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, the country's highest power, convened a meeting and issued a directive for officials to step up efforts to control public opinion about the disaster response, while ordering them to both “understand the sorrow of the families” and “concretely preserve social stability.”

Wire services