Boatmen demanded cash to recover bodies

The owners of two fishing boats are under investigation by police after they refused to recover the bodies of three drowned students unless locals first paid them 36,000 yuan ($5,300) in cash.

The deceased, all aged 19, were among 10 college freshmen on a school outing on Oct 24 when they saw two boys struggling in the Yangtze River at Jingzhou, Hubei province.

Eyewitnesses said the Yangtze University students formed a human chain to reach the boys but one lost their grip and nine were swept offshore.