Hopes for China boat passengers fade at hospital

But hopes were fading, both at Jianli's People's Hospital and on the banks of the Yangtze where the ship capsized, of finding more survivors.

Just 14 people had been rescued as of Wednesday from the "Eastern Star" cruise ship, which overturned late Monday in a storm with 456 people -- mostly elderly passengers -- on board.

"We drove from 10 pm last night to 6 am this morning to get here," the woman said at the hospital, looking pale and worn after the family's painful journey.

Her uncle and aunt had boarded the ship in their home city of Nanjing. It capsized about 750 kilometres (465 miles) to the west in the Jianli stretch of the river in the central province of Hubei.

The couple travelled the same distance by car to seek news of their loved ones, taking the missing couple's child with them on the harrowing drive.

"Their child went to the site of the accident," the woman added, as the man shook his head despondently.

"We don't really know anything," he said -- the fading hopes common to many relatives apparent on his face.

Many relatives have complained of a lack of information about the fate of their loved ones.

It was unclear whether family members were being allowed onto the riverbank, but authorities strictly controlled access for foreign journalists.

Roadblocks were sited about two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the capsized vessel, and cars were being turned back even before that point.

Authorities ordered an AFP team to leave the area on Wednesday.

A funeral parlour was also sealed off by security staff.

Officials did take both foreign and Chinese journalists on an organised boat tour past the stricken vessel.

Controlling the narrative

A local Jianli official argued that the restrictions on independent travel to the site were imposed to ensure safety and assist rescue work.

A government directive posted online by China Digital Times -- an independent media organisation -- said: "All coverage must use information released by authoritative media as the standard."

A Chinese academic said that controlling the narrative in a disaster aims to shield viewers from disturbing images but also to limit politically sensitive content.

"Normally, foreign media will be excluded from sensitive matters, only official media like CCTV, the People’s Daily and the Xinhua news agency can get into the inner circle," said Yuan Jieling of the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.

Passengers had little warning before the ship sank. Zhang Hui, a 43-year-old tour guide, told Xinhua news agency he had just "30 seconds to grab a life jacket".

The captain and chief engineer, who were also among the survivors and were being questioned by police, both said the ship was caught in a freak storm, which weather authorities have described as a tornado.

Among others to have made it out of the ship alive, two -- a man aged about 30 and an elderly person -- are in the intensive care unit at the Jianli hospital, a doctor told AFP, without specifying the elder patient's gender.

Three others were in "good condition" in the general ward, the doctor said.

Among them was a man in his twenties who appeared visibly shaken and shocked when AFP visited the ward.

Another man, whom the doctor said was aged in his forties, appeared in relatively good spirits as he talked to nurses who tended his ruptured Achilles tendon.

The third man, in his fifties, suffered a fractured collarbone and needs a second operation, the doctor said.

"They are very calm about this," he added.