The ship named Dongfangzhixing or “Eastern Star” was headed from Nanjing to Chongqing when it sank at around 9:28 pm last night in the Jianli section of the river, officials from the navigation administration said.
Eight people have so far been rescued, including the captain and the chief engineer, who both claimed the ship sank quickly after being caught in a cyclone, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
There were 405 Chinese passengers, five travel agency workers and 47 crew members on board, according to the officials.
Strong winds and heavy rains have hampered the rescue work. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has rushed to the site to supervise rescue operations, state-run CCTV said.
A total of 22 people, including eight foreigners, were killed when a tugboat sank in the river in January.
PTI