Twenty one out of the 22 people who went missing after a tugboat capsized on Yangtze River in China's eastern Jiangsu Province were declared dead today while one person was still being searched for but the fate of an Indian on board the vessel remained unclear.
It was not known whether the Indian, who was listed missing along with eight other foreigners on board -- four Singaporeans, an Indonesian, a Malaysian and Japanese, was among the dead or the person missing.
The tragedy unfolded yesterday when the tugboat with 25 people on board sank with only three people being saved.
The Indian was stated to be a resident of Singapore.
Rescuers are still searching the cockpit as well as the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River for the one person missing, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The boat, coded "Wanshenzhou 67", was lifted to the surface of water this morning, 40 hours after it sank in Fubei Channel, near Jingjiang City.
The 30-metre-long boat with a weight of 368 tonnes was built by Anhui Bengbu Shenzhou Machinery Co. Ltd. In October. The company did not report the vessel's route or testing plans to port authorities.
Officials of the Indian Consulate in Shanghai are in touch with local authorities in order to obtain details of the Indian on board the ill-fated boat.
