LIVE: Ship carrying 458 people sinks in Yangtze River

8:45 am: 300 soldiers rush to accident site

Nearly 300 soldier from Jingzhou, Hubei province have arrived to help in rescue operation.

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8:35 am: 12 have been rescued

By 7:26 am, 12 people have been rescued, according to the Yangtze River navigation administration.

8:25 am: Rescue headquarters to hold news conference this morning

The rescue operations headquarters will hold a news conferece in Jianli county, Hubei province, this morning. The news conference has been organized by Hubei province and the spokespeople will be a deputy directer with the Yangtze River navigation administration, who is also a deputy commander-in-chief of the operation.

8:11 am: Bottom of ship wreck emerges

The bottom of the ship wreck has emerged to the surface of the river. By 8:00 am 34 official rescue ships and several passing ships have been carrying out rescue operation. CCTV said there were 458 people onboard, with 406 getting onboard in Nanjing. More than 100 tourists were organized by a travel agency in Nanjing. Other travellers were organized by agencies in Suzhou, Changzhou, etc.

8:10 am: Ship sinks amid storm

The accident took place when the cyclone was at level 12 on the Beaufort scale table, which means the wind came at a speed of more than 64 kilometers per hour, according to the meteorological agency.

7:52 am: Premier asks officials to do best to minimize deaths

Premier Li Keqiang has asked Ministry of Transport and other relevant departments to try their best in rescue operation and minimize the death toll as much as possible. He also asked the rescued should be treated in a timely manner. The Ministry of Transport has started the first level emergency response and coordinated several ships to carry out the rescue operation. The State Council said the boat capsized due to storm.

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