長江沉船乘客生還希望漸趨渺茫

Hopes of finding any More survivors in modern China’s worst aquatic tragedy were fading rapidly on Wednesday as rescue workers prepared to cut open the hull of a stricken cruise ship.

現代中國最糟糕的水上悲劇發生後，找到更多幸存者的希望週三變得越來越渺茫。救援人員準備切割開一艘翻沉客船的船體。

The Dongfangzhixing, or Eastern Star, capsized on Monday night on a section of the Yangtze river. The cruise ship was carrying 458 passengers and crew, most of them elderly tourists from eastern China, towards the scenic Three Gorges area.

“東方之星”輪週一晚在長江湖北監利段翻沉。當時該船正開往三峽景區。船上載有456名乘客和船員，多數乘客是來自華東地區的老年遊客。

As of Wednesday afternoon there were only 26 confirmed dead and 14 survivors. Most of them managed to escape as the ship turned over, with only two found alive in air pockets some 15 hours after the tragedy and pulled to safety.

中國媒體報道，根據最新統計，共搜到43人，其中14人生還，29人遇難。生還者當中，多數是在該船翻沉的過程中設法逃離的，只有兩人是在悲劇發生差不多15小時後在氣穴中被找到並被救出的。

“It’s a race against time,” said Yang Chuantang, China’s transport minister. “As long as there’s even a little hope, we will not give up.”

中國交通部長楊傳堂表示，這是一場與時間的賽跑：“只要有一點希望，我們就不會放棄。”

The Eastern Star was one of six Yangtze river cruise ships cited for unspecified safety violations two years ago, according to an August 2013 document posted on the Jiangsu Maritime Bureau’s website. Bureau officials were not immediately available for comment.

根據江蘇海事局網站貼出的一份2013年8月的檔案，“東方之星”輪是兩年前被指違反安全規定的六艘長江旅遊客船之一。記者一時聯絡不上該局官員請其置評。

But local media also noted that the Eastern Star was subject to frequent safety checks, the most recent on April 10. Official accounts have suggested that the ship was the victim of a freak tornado and China’s domestic cruise industry has a good safety record.

但是當地媒體也指出，“東方之星”輪受到頻繁的安全檢查，最近一次是在4月10日。官方說法似乎表明，該船是一股反常龍捲風的受害者，中國的內河客船航運業有著良好的安全記錄。

State media reported that three bodies had been found 50km away from the wreck, in Jianli county, Hubei province, while one tour guide survived after he grabbed a life jacket and floated 90km downstream.

據官方媒體報道，三具遺體在湖北省監利縣被找到，距離沉船地點有50公里，而一名導遊在緊急關頭抓到一件救生衣後，向下遊漂流了90公里，最後被救起。

The Eastern Star was travelling from Nanjing to Chongqing — a route that would have taken it through the locks of the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest. Officials reduced the amount of water flowing through the dam in an effort to help the search effort, which is being hampered by bad weather.

事發時，“東方之星”輪正從南京開往重慶，途中將通過全球最大水壩——三峽大壩——的船閘。為了協助搜救作業，官員們調低了三峽大壩的下洩流量，但搜救工作仍受到惡劣天氣的影響。

The Eastern Star’s captain and chief engineer, who both survived the tragedy, reportedly told police that their vessel had been hit by a sudden tornado. The China Meteorological Center confirmed that a tornado with winds of more than 90kph had been recorded in the area at the time.

“東方之星”輪的船長和輪機長均已獲救，據報道他們告訴調查人員，該船遭遇一股突如其來的龍捲風。中國氣象局(China Meteorological Administration)確認，事發地點當時記錄到了風力12級以上的龍捲風。

If the apparently high death toll is confirmed, it will exceed the more than 300 people, mostly high-school students, who perished in last year’s Sewol ferry disaster in South Korea.

如果顯然很高的死亡人數得到證實，此次事故的嚴重性將超過去年發生的韓國“世越號”(Sewol)客輪海難，那次事故導致300多人死亡，其中大多是高中生。

Chinese officials have already pronounced the Eastern Star their country’s worst aquatic tragedy in more than 60 years.

中國官員已宣佈，“東方之星”輪是中國60多年來最嚴重的水上悲劇。

Thousands of police and People’s Liberation Army soldiers have descended on the area, setting up cordons near the site of the accident and at a hospital where the few survivors were taken.

數千名警察和解放軍官兵已抵達事發地點，在沉船現場附近以及收治了少數生還者的一家醫院拉起警戒線。

State media released pictures of Premier Li Keqiang visiting the survivors. He headed to Hubei to direct rescue efforts shortly after the news broke overnight, in a sign of the government’s concern about the tragedy.

官方媒體釋出了中國總理李克強看望生還者的照片。他在沉船訊息於週一晚間傳出後不久便親赴湖北指揮搜救工作，這個跡象表明政府對這場悲劇感到關切。

Public grief can quickly turn to anger if people believe government officials and tightly controlled state media are withholding information or covering up administrative negligence. On Tuesday relatives of the victims were involved in chaotic scenes at a Shanghai government office near where their loved ones had booked the journey.

如果人們相信政府官員和受到嚴格控制的官方媒體知情不報或隱瞞管理上的疏忽，公眾的悲痛可能很快會轉化為憤怒。在上海，乘客家屬週二在親人預訂旅程的旅行社不遠處圍住一個政府部門，當時出現了一些混亂場面。

As hopes fade for those still unaccounted for, Chinese officials will have the delicate task of making arrangements for distraught relatives to visit the remote area.

隨著下落不明的乘客生還希望越來越渺茫，中國官員將面對安排悲痛欲絕的親屬到偏僻的事發地悼念遇難者的微妙任務。