Chinese rescuers battle to right capsized ship as relatives mourn

Rescuers were battling to right a cruise ship that capsized in central China in a last-ditch attempt to find survivors on Thursday, as hundreds of people clutching candles and flowers gathered nearby to weep for the dead.

As night fell, state TV showed two huge cranes beginning the delicate operation to right the submerged hull of the "Eastern Star," which overturned on the Yangtze river on Monday evening with more than 450 people on board.

A total of 77 people have been confirmed dead since the cruiseliner sank in Hubei province's Jianli county, but hundreds more are still missing and fears are mounting this could turn into China's worst shipping disaster in nearly 70 years.

Workers earlier welded giant hooks onto the hull, an AFP reporter witnessed, as they prepared to lift the 76.5 metre long (250 feet) vessel in a delicate and risky operation that could destabilise the wreck and send it further down the river.

Previous attempts earlier in the day to cut into the hull were suspended due to poor weather.

Torrential rain has continued to hamper rescue operations and the swift-flowing and murky brown waters of the Yangtze are also proving a huge challenge for rescue divers searching the boat room-by-room.

Only 14 people have been found alive and, with hopes for more survivors fading fast, relatives of those on board gathered Thursday night in a public square in Jianli to pray for those lost in the disaster.

- 'Stay strong, stay strong' -

Hundreds of people, many of them relatives of the missing who have come from across China, tearfully laid out candles in the shape of crosses, hearts and 6.1 -- the date the ferry capsized.

"Stay strong, stay strong," one woman said to another, as the pair sobbed while clutching flowers.

The Eastern Star was carrying 456 people, mostly aged over 60 on a tourist trip, when it sank reportedly in less than a minute.

Weather officials said a small but fast-moving tornado hit the area at the time but few other details have been released. The captain and other crew members have been questioned.

Beijing on Thursday pledged to carry out a "serious investigation" after President Xi Jinping called a meeting with top leaders to discuss the tragedy and its aftermath.

"The search for missing passengers and treatment of the injured should be continued though saving lives is the top priority," they said in a statement after the meeting quoted by state media agency Xinhua.

"Leaders also noted the importance of caring for passengers' families and promised timely, accurate and transparent releases of information from the investigation."

Information about the sinking and its aftermath, as well as media access to the site, have been tightly controlled and any public criticism of the search operation quickly doused.

The vessel was cited for safety infractions two years ago, according to a notice by the Nanjing Maritime Bureau, but no further details have been given about the state of the ship.

- 'Still no information here' -

Hundreds of relatives, frustrated by the lack of news, have converged on the disaster site in the hope of finding out more about their loved ones where they are being closely monitored by police.

More than 1,200 family members have so far arrived in Jianli, state broadcaster China Central Television said in an online post, citing a press conference.

Hotels across the county were reserving rooms while authorities have beefed up security at areas where relatives were expected to congregate, such as the riverbank and the funeral parlour.

Among them was 40-year-old Jiang Sudong, who had travelled from Shanghai to seek news on his older brother Jiang Weiming.

"I am really angry that we are not being allowed to see for ourselves what is happening at the scene of the boat," he said as he waited outside a funeral parlour in Jianli.

"I am very angry with Shanghai's city government for the lack of information, but we still receive no information here," he added, as he attempted to move away from watching police. "They are very sensitive," he said under his breath.

Moments later some 23 minivans, each with numbered stickers, drove out of the funeral parlour in numerical order carrying coffins.

Relatives have so far not been allowed to start identifying bodies.