Families try to break the silence around the Eastern Star disaster
Relatives of the missing attempt to breach police lines around the disaster scene in their search for answers about their loved ones
Frustrated by days of waiting and no word about the fate of their loved ones, family members of the missing from the capsized Eastern Star cruise ship on the Yangtze River have made repeated attempts to get to the scene of the disaster.
But each time some of the more than 1,000 anxious relatives of the missing have tried to get through, they have been turned back by police and paramilitary officers and told to wait at their hotels in the small county of Jianli in Hubei province.
"We came all the way here in the hope of knowing the latest information … But now we are just waiting here like idiots, unable to do anything. All they've told us is to wait for further notice," a man from Nanjing said.
A 54-year-old Changzhou man whose wife and sister-in-law were on board the ship said: "I saw at least three vehicles carrying bodies wrapped in yellow plastic bags drive directly into the funeral parlour. But I don't even know whether they're from my family."
Relatives said they were constantly blocked from going to the site of the vessel and had little information about the recovery efforts.
