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Nectar Gan

Powerful currents, poor visibility and low water temperature were among the difficulties and dangers facing rescue divers who continued to search for survivors and bodies two days after the Eastern Star cruise ship capsized on the Yangtze River.
More than 200 divers were involved in the search yesterday. As of 7pm yesterday, 14 survivors and 26 bodies had been pulled from the water.
Ding Jianxin, a diver with the PLA Navy's East Sea Fleet, brought two bodies to the surface during his dive at about 11am.
"I was very afraid," the 27-year-old said after his first rescue dive since joining the navy eight years ago.
"But when I thought about how so many family members were anxiously waiting on the shore … I had to go underwater despite my fear."
Ding said he found the first body on the ship's first level. "He was stuck at the window, apparently trying to escape," Ding said.
After bringing the body to the surface, Ding resumed his dive without taking a break. It was during this dive that he found a second body on the ship's second level.
Fellow diver Chen Xiang, from the PLA Navy's South Sea Fleet, said it was so dark divers could only feel their way forward along the 1.2-metre-wide corridors to enter the cabins.
READ MORE: Close calls with tragedy on the Yangtze River
Chen said the poor visibility meant the divers had to proceed slowly to avoid snagging their equipment. The dive from the surface to the ship's second level took about 15 minutes. And once the divers made their way into the corridors, they had to go even slower.
"[I] could not see anything and could only rely on touch," Chen said. "The water was muddy, the current was strong. It was dark, and cold."
Adding to the difficulty of the search was the complicated environment within the cabins. Chen was hit on the shoulder by an unknown sharp and heavy object when he was inside a second-level cabin, forcing him to give up his search after about 20 minutes.
Speaking on the nearby pier after the morning dives, the deputy head of the North Sea Fleet's rescue detachment, surnamed Wang, said the main difficulties faced by the divers were the fast current, poor visibility of just 10cm to 20cm, and the low water temperature.
Wang said only four or five cabins on the bottom level had been searched by his team, while most of the cabins on the starboard side of the upper level had been cleared.
He said divers would leave a glow stick by the window to mark that a cabin had been searched.
Wang said his team of 54 divers had conducted two rounds of dives since arriving at the rescue site on Tuesday afternoon.
"We have not slept a wink in more than 30 hours," he said.
Rescue diver Guan Dong told how he had taught a 65-year-old female survivor how to use diving equipment after he and his teammates found her.
The woman successfully made it to the surface.
Among the rescuers was a member of the Beijing Blue Sky rescue team who had postponed his wedding to join the effort, mainland online portal Sina.com reported.
Wang Xiaohui received the rescue order several days before his planned wedding, and he applied to be part of the mission before telling his fiancée, the report said.


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Last memories from the Eastern Star

Survivor expresses grief at loss of travel companion in China's Yangtze river cruise ship disaster

Yangtze cruise ship sinking

Eastern Star rescue divers tell of being forced to search by touch

Rescuers continue search and rescue operations on a cruise ship that capsized in the Yangtze River in Jianli, Hubei. Photo: Kyodo

Rescue workers stand on the hull of the capsized Eastern Star ferry. Photo: Reuters

News

China

People & Culture

Powerful currents, poor visibility and low water temperature were among the difficulties and dangers facing rescue divers who continued to search for survivors and bodies two days after the Eastern Star cruise ship capsized on the Yangtze River.
