China Ferry Fire Deaths Top 150; Rescue Continues

Thousands of rescue workers scoured wind-whipped seas and shores Thursday for survivors from a ferry that caught fire and sank off eastern China, killing more than 150 people and leaving more than 120 others missing.

The chances of finding more survivors were growing slim due to the icy waters and freezing temperatures, officials said.

Half the passengers jumped into the sea, and many froze to death, the official China Daily said today. Many of those who made it into lifeboats also succumbed to freezing temperatures and high waves, the newspaper said.

The 9,000-ton Dashun was wrecked amid gale-force winds and towering waves late Wednesday on a heavily used shipping route that connects Yantai, a city in eastern China’s Shandong province, with the northeastern port of Dalian.

“It was very tragic. The sea was covered with bodies,” said a Yantai fire brigade officer, who declined to give his name.

Bodies also washed up on beaches, he said.

The China Daily also said that 336 people were on board; earlier reports put the figure at 312. One survivor, crewman Ma Shuchi, swam more than six miles to shore, the newspaper said. State media were reporting that just 36 people had been rescued.

The fire started in the ferry’s lower vehicle deck when the vessel was about 20 miles from port, the China News Service said. The ship began heading back to port and sending distress signals. But fierce waves and winds prevented the more than 30 naval vessels, tugs and fishing boats that were dispatched from getting close to the ferry, the report said.