The death toll in Friday's sinking of a ferryboat in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has been confirmed at 10. Shen Dachun, the 48-year-old owner of the boat, was placed under arrest on Saturday.

The tragedy took place at 3:40 PM on Friday in Ziyang County, when 21 local middle school students were plunged into the water as they took the boat home from school, a local police source said.

"I was on my way home after school with 20 of my schoolmates when the boat we took broke apart with a big hole in its bow. . . . the water entered the cabin," said Chen Xiaoyan, speaking from the county hospital.

All 23 people on board went into the water as the boat sank. Thirteen were pulled to safety and treated at the county hospital, according to Wang Guoku, deputy magistrate of Ziyang County.

Preliminary investigation indicated that overloading, illegal operation of a condemned boat and improper emergency response contributed to the tragedy, according to local police.

On October 25, the local maritime affairs office inspected Shen's ferry and ordered him to cease operating it because it had no legal registered name, no load lines and a portion of the boat was rotted, the deputy magistrate said.

Shen had not subsequently received authorization to resume operations.

(China Daily December 20, 2004)