Four passengers died and six were injured after a passenger ferry
traveling across the
Bohai Bay sank
on Saturday afternoon.
Four of the 81 people on board the sunken ferry died during the
rescue operation, said a spokesperson for China Maritime Rescue
Center, blaming their deaths on prolonged exposure to freezing
seawater. Twenty-seven people jumped into the ocean when the
accident took place.
The injured passengers are all in a good condition after receiving
emergency medical treatment. Only one passenger remains in hospital
for further observation.
The vessel, known as "Liaoludu 7,'' which was on its way from
Lushun in Northeast China's Liaoning Province to the port city of
Longkou in East China's Shandong Province, malfunctioned and lost
power suddenly at 2:30 pm on Saturday, beginning to tilt by 20-30
degrees. The ferry was 10 nautical miles northwest of Tuoji Island
in the Bohai Strait at the time of the accident.
Rescue ships from the two provinces were sent to the accident scene
after receiving the ferry's call for help. Nearby fishing boats and
the Ministry of Agriculture and navy craft were also called to
help.
At
3:35 pm all the passengers put on life jackets and the crew put
their emergency procedures into place.
Fishing boat Luchangyu 3045 was the first to arrive at the scene
one hour later, rescuing 17 people when the vessel was tilting more
than 40 degrees.
Strong wind hampered bids to rescue more passengers as the rescue
team found it very difficult to get near the sinking boat.
The ship sank at 5:50 pm and 27 people left on board were forced to
jump into the sea.
As
the night fell, the rescue team kept searching for survivors in the
freezing water.
By
8:45 pm, all the missing people were recovered from the water.
Three men and one woman who had been identified as passengers on
board died during the operation and six were rushed to
hospital.
Villagers from Tuoji Island provided shelter for passengers from
the stricken ferry. They had prepared warm beds, clothes and
provided overnight accommodation. Fishing boats from Tuoji Town
recovered a total of 54 people from the sunken ship.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, sources
said.
Except for two local residents in Tuoji Island, all the passengers
were transferred to Penglai, a coastal city in Shandong Province by
Sunday afternoon.
The tragedy also attracted the attention of the State Council.
Following the accident, Premier Zhu Rongji and Vice-Premier Wu
Bangguo called for no efforts to be spared by the rescuers.
Zhang Chunxian, minister of communications, expressed his thanks to
those involved in the rescue work and has been coordinating the
rescue operation at the centre in Beijing.
The 1,325-ton ferry carried a total of 81 persons, including 18
crew members and 15 trucks with their 15 drivers. Built in 1980 in
Japan, the ship is capable of holding 250 people and 30
automobiles. Though it already had 23 years of navigation history
behind it, the ferry was still within its service term.
In
another development, a 40-ton cargo vessel sank early on Saturday
morning near Dalian and all the four crewmen are still missing.
On
November 24, 1999, the ferryboat "Dashun,'' with 262 passengers and
40 crew members on board, capsized off Yantai, a coastal city in
East China's Shandong Province due to bad weather, huge waves and
errors made by the captain and his crew members. The tragedy killed
282 people including the captain.
(China Daily February 24, 2003)