PEKING -- More than 110 people died and up to 26 were reported missing when an 'overloaded' ferry capsized -- apparently because passengers rushed to one side of the vessel to watch a fistfight, officials said Monday.
Authorities in the northeastern city of Harbin said the 65-foot-long boat was ferrying passengers from Taiyang Island Park, a tourist island, on the Songhua River Sunday afternoon when the disaster occurred about 250 yards from shore.
They said there were less than 200 people aboard the boat, designed to carry 100, when it capsized Sunday afternoon and estimated the number of missing at no more than 26. Another 60 people were rescued. They said the death toll as of Monday evening was 114.
Initial reports said no foreigners were on board the vessel.
The ferry, operated by the Harbin City No. 2 Shipping Co., was raised Monday afternoon with 18 bodies trapped in the cabin, a spokesman at state-run Harbin People's Radio said.
Five rescue teams directed by Heilongjiang Gov. Hou Jie continued a search for the missing on Tuesday, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The Peking Evening News newspaper said Monday the boat capsized when passengers rushed to one side of the vessel to watch a fistfight.
'According to preliminary reports, the boat capsized because it was overloaded,' the newspaper said in a brief story. 'After the boat set out from Taiyang Island, a fight broke out and several people on board rushed to watch, which caused the boat to lose its balance.'
'After it turned over, only the people on the upper deck survived,' the newspaper said.
Xinhua, however, said the cause of the accident was still under investigation and officials have dismissed initial reports that more than 300 passengers were aboard the vessel.
