Chinese Cruise Ship Capsizes: Yangtze River Rescuers Desperately Listen for Sounds of Survivors in Submerged Hull

Officials pounded on the ship's hull to listen for survivors.

ByABC News
June 2, 2015, 10:45 AM

— -- Officials made dramatic rescue efforts, at least one with a hammer, to reach hundreds of passengers trapped in an overturned cruise ship on China's Yangtze River after it capsized in a storm.

Search teams heard people calling out from within the partially submerged ship, state broadcaster CCTV News reported. Video showed one of the rescuers lying on the upside-down hull and tapping a hammer, apparently listen for trapped people inside.

Desperate relatives are furious as they search for their loves ones: One man said he was angry because he has no idea whether family members are dead or alive.

Hundreds of divers from the Chinese navy are at the site. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang also rushed to the scene.

PHOTO: Relatives of passengers of the capsized ship Dongfangzhixing wait for news at the Shijiyuan Hotel on June 2, 2015 in Nanjing, China.
Relatives of passengers of the capsized ship Dongfangzhixing wait for news at the Shijiyuan Hotel on June 2, 2015 in Nanjing, China.

Several people have been rescued, CCTV reported. At least 14 people survived while five were killed when the cruise capsized around 9:30 p.m. Monday, according to CCTV.

At least 456 passengers were on board, most of them elderly.

PHOTO: Recovery and rescue crews attend the accident site where a ship carrying 458 people sank in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River on June 2, 2015 in the Jingzhou, Hubei province of China on June 2, 2015.
Recovery and rescue crews attend the accident site where a ship carrying 458 people sank in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River on June 2, 2015 in the Jingzhou, Hubei province of China on June 2, 2015.

CCTV said the captain and chief engineer were in police custody.

The Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corp., which CCTV reported owns the ship, could not be reached for comment.

PHOTO: A diver walks into the water as rescue teams search for survivors from the Dongfangzhixing or "Eastern Star" vessel, which sank in the Yangtze River in Jianli, central China's Hubei province, on June 2, 2015.
A diver walks into the water as rescue teams search for survivors from the Dongfangzhixing or "Eastern Star" vessel, which sank in the Yangtze River in Jianli, central China's Hubei province, on June 2, 2015.

ABC News' Kaijing Xiao and The Associated Press contributed to this story.