Ferry boat capsizes in central China, killing at least 8

Ferry boat capsizes in central China, killing at least 8

2011-09-09 19:56:56 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHANGSHA, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- At least eight people were killed on late Friday afternoon when a ferry boat carrying scores of students sank on a river in central China, state-run media reported.

The ferry boat departed from Tangtianshi in China's central province of Hunan at around 2 p.m. local time, carrying dozens of high school students who were heading home for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The Communist Party of China committee chief in Shaoyang County, Jiang Yaohua, said the ferry boat sank at around 3.10 p.m. local time, confirming that search and rescue teams had recovered eight bodies from the river by 6 p.m. local time. All of the deceased are high school students.

While emergency teams were able to save most of the students, local authorities are still trying to determine the number of people that were onboard at the time of the incident and verify the number of people rescued and still missing.

Witnesses said scores of people were onboard, adding the likely cause of the accident was overloading. However, there has been no official word regarding the cause of the incident, as authorities concentrate on the rescue work.

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