18 rescued in Yangtze River boat collision

Eighteen crew members of a boat have been rescued shortly before their vessel sank in the Yangtze River after hitting a bridge pier. Local authorities say, the hoarding of bottle water is unnecessary.

The vessel, "Xinchuan 8," collided with one of the piers of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge as it was trying to pass through early Sunday morning.

Maritime authorities in Nanjing are arranging for the ship's salvage. An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

But in cities downstream, some people have begun hoarding bottle water, worried about the quality of drinking water because the vessel was carrying 12,500 tonnes of limestone when it sank.

More than a thousand boxes of bottle water has been sold today. The normal sale is about 50.

Local environmental authorities have also been on the move.

"The limestone is basically calcium carbonate. It's insoluble in water. We are mainly watching for oil leaks," said Yu Yiyong, deputy director of Nanjing Environmental Monitoring Center.

The environment department has set up five monitoring points to collect data every hour.

So far there is no indication the sinking has affected the water quality of the Yangtze River.

Information about the accident has also been published in text messages and on social media.