Three rescued, 22 missing after boat sinks in China’s Yangtze River

NANJING, Jan. 17 (NsNewsWire) — Rescuers have saved three people after a tug boat sank on the Yangtze River in east China’s Jiangsu Province on Thursday, said local rescue headquarters.

Twenty-five people aboard the boat fell into the water, including eight foreigners — four Singaporeans, an Indonesian, a Malaysian, an Indian and a Japanese national — when it sank while conducting tests in Fubei Channel, near Jingjiang City, on the Yangtze River at about 3 p.m. Thursday, according to the provincial maritime rescue center.

About 30 professional vessels, including patrol boats and tug boats, have been dispatched to search for the 22 missing people near the spot where the boat sank.

Rescuers are trying to stabilize the capsized boat and lift it out of the water by crane. However, rescue work has been difficult due to the swift current and cold water.

Wang Zhenkai, one of the three rescued, told Xinhua reporters that he was the interpreter for a 60-year-old Japanese engineer.