No Chance to Find More Survivors From Capsized Chinese Ship - Ministry

The Eastern Star with 456 people on board was caught in a cyclone and sank on Monday evening. The ship was travelling from eastern city of Nanjing to Chongqing in the south-west.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The rescue operation at the capsized Chinese cruise ship in the Yangtze River has transformed into a mission to recover bodies, China’s Transport Ministry spokesman said.

So far, only 14 survivors, including the captain, have been found, and there were no chances of finding anyone still alive were, according to the Chinese authorities.

"In a situation in which the overall judgment is that there is no chance of people being alive, we could start the work of righting the boat," Transport Ministry spokesman Xu Chengguang said at a press conference on Thursday, as quoted by the SkyNews.

According to Chinese State broadcaster CCTV, the boat had been righted Friday morning. Rescuers recovered 97 bodies so far.