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No bodies found after the capsized boat raised

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-11 13:52

GUIYANG  -- A boat that capsized on a southwest China river on March 3 has been raised, but no signs of the 10 people missing in the accident were found, a local official said Wednesday.

Pan Liang, Communist Party of China chief of Jianhe County, Guizhou Province, said the local maritime affairs bureau would inspect the vessel, which was raised at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, to ascertain the cause of the accident.

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A search covering almost three kilometers around the accident site has failed to find any signs of the missing.

The local maritime affairs bureau said the people who had disappeared would have been wearing a lot of clothes in the cold weather. If sand and silt had collected in their garments, the bodies could be weighed down below the surface of the water.

The vessel with 44 passengers, the boat owner and ticket seller aboard set sail for Liuchuan Town in Jianhe County, Qiandongnan Miao-Dong Autonomous Prefecture, for a rural market at 8 a.m. on March 3.

The passengers were mostly farmers from four villages. Each paid 2 yuan (29 US cents) for a ticket, said Pan Liang.

The boat, which had a registered capacity of 18 people, quickly sank after hitting a reef at around 10 a.m. in a backwater zone formed after the completion of a hydropower station, throwing all those aboard into the water.

Passing boats and ships picked up 36 people, but eight women, one man and a two-year-old girl were missing, said Pan.

Police have detained boat owner Liu Zhongquan, 28.