Week 4--- 長江船難

Stricken Chinese cruise ship lifted from Yangtze River; hundreds of bodies recovered

By Ivan Watson, Madison Park and Greg Botelho, June 6, 2015

The Eastern Star is upright once again, looking almost normal with its bottom resting on the water and its deck and cabins clear above it.

The ship's positioning Friday was a step forward in the daylong nightmare playing out on a section of the Yangtze River that flows through Hubei province. It means answers should be easier to come by as to why the Eastern Star capsized Monday night and what can be done to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

It also means closure could be coming soon to hundreds of families.

At least 396 bodies had been recovered by Saturday, according to Chinese state media. There are 46 people still unaccounted for.

Of the 456 people on board, 14 survived. But rescuers have had no luck since Tuesday, when a 21-year-old sailor and 65-year-old woman were plucked from the water.

The chances of more miracles have dwindled with each passing day. And the salvage process has begun.

That process involved huge floating cranes that set up alongside the overturned river cruise ship, dropped cables and hooks into the water, rolled the ship upright and raised it to the surface. About 50 divers took part overnight Thursday by tying slings around the 2,200-ton vessel, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

State-run CCTV News tweeted pictures of the Eastern Star after this happened Friday. Parts of its top level looked smashed, but the other levels appeared largely intact. By draining the ship, the idea is that it could again float on its own.

Meanwhile, rescuers continue their work. After going through the submerged, capsized ship for three days, they'll now theoretically be able to walk its decks and open spaces.

The idea is to go cabin by cabin, looking for people who may have, by chance, survived in a cranny inside -- and for the many who most certainly did not. It's all part of a huge operation involving nearly 150 other ships, 59 machines, over 3,400 Chinese troops and 1,700 paramilitary personnel, Xinhua said.

Structure:
Who-stricken Chinese
When-June 6, 2015
Where-Yangtze River
Why-cruise ship lifted from river
How-not given

Keywords:
1.cruise: 行駛
2.upright: 筆直的
3.dwindle: 使縮小
4.salvage: 搶救
5.tweet: 發微博
6.submerge: 淹沒