China promises ‘no cover-up’ in ship sinking probe as death toll rises to 75

China has pledged that there would be “no cover-up” of an investigation into the sinking of a cruise ship on the Yangtze River, which has left 75 people dead and over 370 missing, as angry families gathered near the rescue site to demand answers.

Chinese authorities will start righting the ship at 8 pm (1200 GMT) on Thursday so rescuers could “search for the missing persons in the shortest possible time and give maximum protection to the dignity of the deceased”, state news agency Xinhua said, citing the transport ministry.

Earlier on Thursday, President Xi Jinping convened a special meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in the country, to discuss the disaster, Xinhua said.

Authorities are investigating the crew members who were rescued from the Eastern Star, which capsized in a freak tornado on Monday night, and were “gathering evidence”, Xu Chengguang, the spokesman for the Ministry of Transport, said.

“We will never shield mistakes and we’ll absolutely not cover up (anything),” Xu told a news conference on Wednesday night, adding a preliminary investigation had begun.

The Politburo Standing Committee called on rescuers to “take all possible measures” to save the injured and urged a “serious investigation into the cause of the incident”, Xinhua said.

They also stressed that “the work of appeasing the families is very important” and called on local authorities to “understand the families’ grief, carry out appeasement efforts and earnestly safeguard social stability”.

Only 14 survivors, including the captain and chief engineer, have been found since the ship carrying 456 people capsized. Police have detained the captain and chief engineer for questioning. An initial investigation found the ship was not overloaded and had enough life vests on board.

The announcement of the investigation came hours before dozens of relatives broke through a police cordon in <g data-gr-id="31">bid</g> to reach the disaster site.

Frustrated by the scarcity of information from local authorities, about 50 family members hired a bus to take them from Nanjing to Jianli county in Hubei, an eight-hour journey.

The ship had been on an 11-day voyage upstream from Nanjing, near Shanghai, to Chongqing. Taxi drivers in Jianli were instructed on Thursday not to take family members to the local crematorium where the dead were transported.

A taxi driver showed a reporter a message on his mobile phone which instructed drivers to say they were unable to take them there because of “traffic control measures”.