Yangtze River ship capsize toll crosses 400

The death toll in ship capsize in China’s Yangtze River crossed 400 on Saturday. Authorities have attributed the overturning of the passenger ship in Yangtze River late Monday to sudden, severe winds, but also have placed the captain and his first engineer under police custody. Passengers’ relatives have raised questions about whether the ship should have continued its cruise after the storm started in a section of Hubei province and despite a weather warning earlier in the evening. Heavy rains in the Yangtze area over four days beginning Monday have killed 15 people and left eight others missing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said. Hundreds more bodies from the ship ‘Eastern Star’ were found overnight and Saturday, bringing the death toll to 406, Hu Kaihong, the vice director-general of the press bureau of the State Council Information Office, said according to AP and Xinhua.