Ship carrying over 450 people sinks in China’s Yangtze

Chinese villagers watch as rescue teams head out to search for survivors of a passenger ship carrying more than 450 people which sunk in the Yangtze river, triggering a rescue effort hampered by strong winds and heavy rain off Jianli in China's Hubei province. - AFP

BEIJING: A passenger ship carrying more than 450 people has sunk in the Yangtze river in central China, state media reported Tuesday.

The ship named Dongfangzhixing, or “Eastern Star”, was headed from the eastern city of Nanjing to the southwestern city of Chongqing when it sank in the Jianli section of the river, in Hubei province, on Monday evening, Xinhua said.