Five people are dead and hundreds are missing after a ship carrying more than 450 people capsized on the Yangtze River in China's Hubei province.
The ship is floating upside down in a wide stretch of river - state media said rescuers tapping the hull had heard calls for help from inside.
The boat, the Eastern Star, reportedly sent no emergency signal.
Media reports say the alarm was raised by several people who had swum to shore and alerted the police.Only about 12 people have been rescued so far, and some with minor injuries have been taken to hospital, said state media. Rescue work has been hampered by strong winds and heavy rain.
The BBC's Jo Floto in Beijing says that China has not seen a disaster on such a scale for a long time.
The government has exerted huge control over information coming out from the scene, with local journalists stopped from getting close to the scene, he adds.
No doubt for some of those on the Eastern Star it would have been the trip of a lifetime.
And the Three Gorges Dam, a place of pilgrimage in its own right and a powerful symbol of China's rising economic might attracting around 2 million visitors a year, now has its part to play in the rescue. The dam's engineers have been ordered to reduce the water volume flowing through the giant turbines.
The sinking of the Eastern Star will resonate widely.
A boat full of everyday Chinese tourists - from grandmothers and grandfathers down to the youngest listed passenger at just three years old - has been lost in the waters of the country's best loved river.
Captain detained
Thousands of soldiers and rescue personnel have been deployed, and a high-powered salvage ship is on the way to pull the boat upright, reported China Central Television (CCTV).
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