CRI听力:Divers Recall Searching Victims in Capsized Ship in Yangtze River

More than 200 divers have raced against time to find possible survivors.

Zhou Dong is one of them.

The 37-year-old diver has 17 years of experience.

He recalls his experience of finding the body of one victim.

"Windows and beds blocked my way forward (when I arrived at the cabin). Then I slowly moved them away and cleared a way for me to go further. Several minutes later, I found the body of a victim above me."

Zhou Dong and other four colleagues from the East China Sea Rescue Bureau dove in the water in turns, searching for possible survivors in one room after another.

In the meantime, Xu Zhaojian and his colleagues from Shanghai Salvage Bureau are responsible for fixing strengthened cables to the ship, an important step in righting and lifting the vehicle.
They have fixed cables to bamboo sticks and then extended the sticks through the space between the ship hull top and the river bed. After this, they then attached cables to the ship.

Xu Zhaojian says the process is a difficult one.

"The water flowed very fast, so the sticks flew away when they were extended to the other side of the ship. Divers at one side of the ship could not find the sticks, so their companions at the other side needed to do it again. We repeated this for five or six times. We spent much time on it. The temperature was low, we consumed much energy; we felt cold and hungry. It would usually take two to three hours, but no one complained, and continued to do it until it was done."

With their efforts, the ship was lifted on Friday evening.

The ship "Eastern Star" carrying 456 people capsized on Monday in a storm in central China's Hubei Province.

According to Chinese authorities, the death toll has climbed to 406 as of Saturday evening.

14 survivors have been found so far.