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Four killed in yacht accident on Taihu Lake

Four killed in yacht accident on Taihu Lake

Updated: 2012-04-06 07:25

By Shi Yingying in Shanghai (China Daily)

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People were prohibited from taking part in water sports both during and after the rescue.

The four survivors on the yacht were also injured but are now in stable condition. The Shanghai Ruijin Hospital spokeswoman said two of them had been transferred to Shanghai on Thursday.

"They're now in our neurosurgery care units," she said. "Both of them have fractured skulls and one has cracked vertebrae."

She said another passenger suffered only slight injuries and has been discharged from the hospital.

The Suzhou police have detained the yacht captain.

The local media quoted a search-and-rescue worker as saying that "the main causes (of the accident) were that the yacht captain didn't expect there would be a cable connecting two ships and that nobody on the boat wore life jackets".

The victim named Peng, however, said nobody had asked the passengers to wear life vests.

The official cause of the accident has not been announced and the local government said it is still investigating the case.

"Conspicuous signals such as red flags, life rings or lights should always be attached to cables that connect two vessels to warn nearby ships in cases like this," said Huang Jianwei, of the Shanghai maritime safety administration's department of navigation management.

"If this had happened in Shanghai, we would have also sent over an escort vessel to ensure the safety (of the tugboat and the ship). The situation in Taihu, though, is pretty complicated because all sorts of vessels are there, including ships used in aquaculture, tourism and transport."

Gong Yu, marketing manager for the Shanghai-based travel agency 54traveler, which organized the trip for the students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said young people should pay more attention to safety.

The amount of compensation offered for each student who died in the accident is expected to be 670,000 yuan ($106,000), according to a news conference held in Shanghai on Thursday afternoon. The compensation is to be paid by the People's Insurance Company of China.

Wang Danfei contributed to this story.

Four killed in yacht accident on Taihu Lake 

A student slightly injured in a yacht accident on Taihu Lake waits for treatment at the Shanghai Ruijin Hospital on Thursday. Yong Kai / for China Daily 

 

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