长江沉船乘客生还希望渐趋渺茫

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.

现代中国最糟糕的水上悲剧发生后，找到更多幸存者的希望周三变得越来越渺茫。救援人员准备切割开一艘翻沉客船的船体。

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.

“东方之星”轮周一晚在长江湖北监利段翻沉。当时该船正开往三峡景区。船上载有456名乘客和船员，多数乘客是来自华东地区的老年游客。

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.

中国媒体报道，根据最新统计，共搜到43人，其中14人生还，29人遇难。生还者当中，多数是在该船翻沉的过程中设法逃离的，只有两人是在悲剧发生差不多15小时后在气穴中被找到并被救出的。

“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.”

中国交通部长杨传堂表示，这是一场与时间的赛跑：“只要有一点希望，我们就不会放弃。”

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.

根据江苏海事局网站贴出的一份2013年8月的文件，“东方之星”轮是两年前被指违反安全规定的六艘长江旅游客船之一。记者一时联系不上该局官员请其置评。

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.

但是当地媒体也指出，“东方之星”轮受到频繁的安全检查，最近一次是在4月10日。官方说法似乎表明，该船是一股反常龙卷风的受害者，中国的内河客船航运业有着良好的安全记录。

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.

据官方媒体报道，三具遗体在湖北省监利县被找到，距离沉船地点有50公里，而一名导游在紧急关头抓到一件救生衣后，向下游漂流了90公里，最后被救起。

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.

事发时，“东方之星”轮正从南京开往重庆，途中将通过全球最大水坝——三峡大坝——的船闸。为了协助搜救作业，官员们调低了三峡大坝的下泄流量，但搜救工作仍受到恶劣天气的影响。

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.

“东方之星”轮的船长和轮机长均已获救，据报道他们告诉调查人员，该船遭遇一股突如其来的龙卷风。中国气象局(China Meteorological Administration)确认，事发地点当时记录到了风力12级以上的龙卷风。

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.

如果显然很高的死亡人数得到证实，此次事故的严重性将超过去年发生的韩国“世越号”(Sewol)客轮海难，那次事故导致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.

中国官员已宣布，“东方之星”轮是中国60多年来最严重的水上悲剧。

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.

数千名警察和解放军官兵已抵达事发地点，在沉船现场附近以及收治了少数生还者的一家医院拉起警戒线。

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.

官方媒体发布了中国总理李克强看望生还者的照片。他在沉船消息于周一晚间传出后不久便亲赴湖北指挥搜救工作，这个迹象表明政府对这场悲剧感到关切。

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.

如果人们相信政府官员和受到严格控制的官方媒体知情不报或隐瞒管理上的疏忽，公众的悲痛可能很快会转化为愤怒。在上海，乘客家属周二在亲人预订旅程的旅行社不远处围住一个政府部门，当时出现了一些混乱场面。

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.

随着下落不明的乘客生还希望越来越渺茫，中国官员将面对安排悲痛欲绝的亲属到偏僻的事发地悼念遇难者的微妙任务。