Eight foreigners among 22 people missing as tugboat capsizes in China
Rescuers search for 4 Singaporeans, a Japanese, an Indian and an Indonesian and 16 Chinese
Twenty-two people, including eight foreigners, remained missing late last night after a tugboat capsized during a trial voyage on the Yangtze River in Jiangsu province.
The new vessel was undergoing testing with the owner and technicians aboard, Xinhua said. The missing foreigners were four Singaporeans, one Indonesian, one Malaysian, one Indian and a Japanese citizen.
The Jiangsu Marine Affairs Bureau said the 368-tonne tugboat capsized at around 3pm while testing its turning abilities near the city of Jingjiang .
Three people were rescued, including Wang Zhenkai, an interpreter for the missing Japanese, Masashi Kanasaki, 65.
Wang was saved at about 5.30am after rescuers cut through the bottom of the boat. He was taken to hospital and is in stable condition.
"The vessel suddenly turned on its side. Water immediately flooded in," Wang told Xinhua. He survived by clinging to a hydraulic pump. Wang said he grabbed Kanasaki, but could not hold on as the boat started to sink.
