Many residents and businesses are offering meals and beds to the bereaved after the city's hotels filled up. Some motorists have tied yellow ribbons to their side-view mirrors, signaling that those looking for loved ones are welcome to hitch a ride. Surrounding cities have sent funeral personnel and vehicles, it reported.
"The government and people in Jianli have treated us very well, providing free lodging and food," it quoted Chen Suhua, a 73-year-old retiree as saying. Chen came from the city of Nanjing to seek news about her missing husband, who was traveling alone on the ship.
Reuters reported that Chinese officials, rescuers and family members gathered in mourning on Sunday for those lost on the cruise ship after the four-storey ship was righted and raised on Friday, allowing rescuers onto to it to clear away debris, break down cabin doors and look for bodies.
The river is being swept to as far away as Shanghai looking for the missing, while DNA tests are being carried out to identify the bodies, said the report.
"Sunday marks seven days since the Eastern Star went down, and according to Chinese tradition this is a key date on which to mourn the dead... Rescue workers and government officials standing on a barge facing the battered boat, removing their hats and bowing their heads, as surrounding boats sounded their horns," wrote Reuters.
The government "is doing everything possible to help the relatives, including providing free accommodation and medical services, and Vice Premier Ma Kai has been dispatched to meet family members personally," it noted, adding that some victims' relatives, speaking to foreign reporters, praised the government's efforts.
"It made me feel incredibly warm. When he shook my hand and said a few words to me, told us to keep on going...He was so genial, like my own father," Wang Hua, 42, who lost both parents on the ship, told Reuters of her meeting with Ma.
The company which operated the ship has apologized for the
disaster and said it would "fully" cooperate with the investigation. Beijing has pledged there would be "no cover-up," while police have detained the captain and chief engineer for questioning as part of the investigation, said Reuters, adding that an initial probe found the ship was not overloaded and had enough life vests on board during the worst shipping catastrophe of China in seven decades.
The government has promised that the treatment of the victims' families would be meticulous and that authorities would work to "satisfy their reasonable demands, and provide all conveniences to them," said Reuters.
In a sign of respect for the victims, China's state television suspended certain programs and advertisements that highlight celebrations for three days, it said.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK said that local authorities on Sunday held a memorial ceremony for the victims of the capsized passenger vessel, with rescuers standing in three-minute silent tribute.
Japan's Kyodo News said that "China on Sunday mourned the loss of over 400 people after workers finished removing bodies from the interior of the passenger ship."
"As a light rain fell, rescuers, many in white hazmat suits, and government officials gathered in sight of the battered blue and white vessel to observe three minutes of silence for the dead," it said.
Following the ceremony, workers went back to gathering and sorting the personal effects of the deceased in preparation to return them to their families, it said, adding that "authorities have begun the process of taking DNA samples from the bodies to help with identification."
