Society

Death toll rises to 6 after boat capsizes in Tibet

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-13 21:01

NGARI, TIBET - The death toll from a pleasure boat accident on a lake in southwest China's Tibet Thursday has risen to six after the bodies of the last missing tourist and a crewman were recovered, said the rescue team Sunday.

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The bodies were recovered early Saturday from Pangong Tso Lake in Ngari Prefecture in western Tibet Autonomous Region, said a spokesman for the rescue team from a traffic unit under the Chinese People's Armed Police Force.

The boat carrying 10 tourists and a crewman capsized around 4 p.m. Thursday. All of them were thrown into the cold water and five were rescued. The bodies of four tourists were recovered Thursday, said the spokesman.

The five dead tourists were from Shanghai. The crewman was from Sichuan Province, he said.

Three survivors who suffered slight injuries were under medical observation in Ngari's Rutog County People's Hospital, and one had been discharged.

The fifth survivor, a woman surnamed Jin, who was still in shock, was being treated by an armed police detachment in Rutog County.

Officials with the regional tourism administration believe the tourists were traveling independently.

Pangong Tso Lake, at an altitude of 4,242 meters, covers 600 square km. The eastern part of the lake, in Rutog County of Ngari, is the world's highest freshwater lake, and its western part is a saltwater lake straddling the China-India border.

The lake area is subject to strong winds for at least 300 days of the year.