RESCUERS are cutting into the hull of a cruise ship that capsized late Monday, in an escalated effort to find survivors believed to be trapped inside.

    The Eastern Star incident on the Yangtze River could become China’s deadliest shipping accident in almost seven decades. Over 450 people were on board the ship when it sank Monday night after allegedly being hit by a tornado in Jianli, Hubei Province.

    Rescuers have retrieved another 39 bodies from 9 p.m. Wednesday to 8 a.m. Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 75 as of yesterday afternoon. Fourteen survivors have been found so far and over 370 people remain missing.

    Rescuers plan to cut a 55-60cm rectangular hole on the bottom of the upturned ship to give divers better access, the rescue headquarters said at the site.

    “The ship sank in a very short time frame, so there could still be air trapped in the hull,” said Li Qixiu of the Naval University of Engineering. “That means there could still be survivors.”

    The main difficulty the rescue team face is holding the vessel steady to prevent it from sinking further during the operation. The escape of any air trapped inside the hull could cause the ship to lose what buoyancy it has and sink deeper, he said.

    Li said divers had managed to attach the steel cables to the hull and the plan was to support the ship with cranes while rescuers searched inside.

    The Three Gorges Dam, up stream from the site of the incident, has meanwhile reduced the flow of water by more than half, from 17,200 cubic meters per second to just 7,000 cubic meters, to help the effort.

    However, experts have cautioned that controlling the flow of the Yangtze for too long will put pressure on dams on the upper reaches of the river.

    “We are racing against time, but we are not going to give up,” he said. (Xinhua)