Rescuers on Wednesday found the remains of the last of a group
of villagers who were drowned after a fishing boat carrying sugar
cane across a reservoir capsized in strong winds, bringing the
death toll to nine.
The body was recovered from the reservoir at 10:50 a.m. on
Wednesday, according to information given by Xiangzhou County
Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) of Laibin City,
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The accident took place at about 2 p.m. Monday in the Xiangzhou
township near Laibin City in central Guangxi, when Qin Sunting, a
villager from Wangduo village, used a boat without the consent of
its owner to carry sugar cane across the reservoir with 15 other
farmers from the villages of Wangduo and Longbao, said Jia
Chaoqiang, Party secretary of the Xiangzhou county.
The farmers loaded the boat with about 15 tons of cane and were
about to return home. However, the boat, which has a load capacity
of 20 tons, encountered strong winds midway and sank.
Three women and four men managed to reach the shoreline, of whom
two women were later hospitalized and are now reported in "stable"
condition.
Rescuers found eight other corpses on Tuesday. The accident is
under further investigation.
(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2007)