CCTV9英语新闻：救援人员搜寻水域的下游

More than 700 rescuers specializing in sanitaion, chemical defense and engineering have formed 8 teams to work on the ship. They have been removing obstacles from the ship, decontaminating it and transferring the victims' bodies out of the ship.

 

Meanwhile, search operations continue in downstream waters. Thousands of people are searching the Yangtze River in central China's Hunan Province downstream from where the Eastern Star capsized. Much of the search is centered around Yueyang City.

 

Zhang Hui is one of the 14 known survivors of the Eastern Star disaster. 

 

Local villagers found him by the riverside of Hunan's Liulinzhou town, 9 hours after the ship overturned. He had drifted more than 30 kilometers downstream in the Yangtze river.

 

He is now recovering after days of treatment. 

 

"I'm recovering. It’s getting better every day. I can now get out of bed and move around a little. I'm trying to adjust myself according to the doctors' orders," he said.

 

Zhang said many people fell into the water when the incident happened, so there could be others who drifted down the river like he did.

 

The government has deployed nearly 10-thousand rescuers and set up 27 search and rescue centers. With more than 500 ships taking part, the search operation continues day and night without rest.

 

"We are mainly searching backwater areas and moors. There is hope as long as we keep searching day and night," said Wang Yehu, head of Boat Bridge, Yueyang Detachment, Hunan Armed Police.

 

Volunteers and villagers around the city have also been participating in the search. Many hotels in Yueyang have been offering free food and accommodation for rescuers and families of the victims.

 

As of Saturday morning, 2 survivors had been rescued in waters near Yueyang city, and another 21 bodies had been found there.