Thirty-three people have been confirmed dead in a shipwreck which occurred on January 29 in Hechuan, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Thirteen others are still missing.
Sources said that 38 people on board the wrecked ship have survived.
Major causes of the accident include overloading, sailing in dense fog, and the inability of the captain in dealing with the situation properly, according to the sources.
The private passenger ship involved ran aground on rocks when sailing from Xiaohe Town to Taihe Town at around 10 am on January 29.
Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the municipal government ordered Hechuan to organize more than 100 officials to make investigations along the route of the boat.
A great number of police and local people were also mobilized to look for the missing people and salvage the dead bodies.
(Xinhua 02/01/2001)
