Hundreds trapped after Chinese cruise ship capsizes with 458 people on board

At least five people are dead and hundreds more are trapped after a cruise ship capsized on China"s Yangtze River.

Easte Star, which was carrying 458 people, was reportedly caught in a cyclone and sent no emergency signal as the hull was tued over and the boat began to sink.

Passengers, most of whom were Chinese tourists aged between 50 and 80, swam to shore and raised the alarm.

Rescuers said that at least five people are dead and hundreds more are still trapped aboard Easte Star.

The captain and chief engineer both survived and have been detained. State media quotes the pair as saying that the vessel sank within minutes, while many of those on board were asleep.

The ship, which was travelling from easte city of Nanjing to Chongqing in the south-west, sank in the Damazhou waterway, BBC reports, where the river bed is around 15m below the surface.