Yangtze ship disaster: 396 confirmed dead

The ship, the Eastern Star, capsized in a storm on Monday and was turned upright in an operation on Friday. Just 14 of the 456 passengers and crew are known to have survived. More than 40 are still missing. The tragedy looks set to be China's worst shipping disaster in more than 60 years of Communist rule. Hooks were welded onto the ship and a net stretched around the entire structure in order to lift it by crane, BBC News reports. Most of the bodies retrieved were inside the vessel. State TV says the focus of the recovery operation is the top and bottom decks of the ship. By first light on Friday, the ship could be seen lying on its side with its name visible just above the water. Officials said there had been no further signs of life inside the ship, Xinhua news agency reports. Chinese President Xi Jinping promised a thorough investigation into the cause of the disaster, after angry relatives protested at the scene. Authorities tightly controlled access to the site, leading family members and journalists to complain about a lack of information.