China's Minister of Transport Yang Chuantang on Sunday urged strengthened search efforts to find remains of the victims of the cruise ship that capsized on the Yangtze River.

"Searching victims' remains was the top priority, and every cabin of the ship must be combed through to leave no stone unturned," Yang said at an onsite rescue work meeting.

Divers should continue searching in nearby waters and local authorities should jointly search for the victims' remains on the waters from Jianli, central China's Hubei Province, where the ship sank, downstream, he said.

There were 456 people onboard the Eastern Star when it sank on Monday night after being hit by a tornado.

The death toll climbed to 432 as of 6 pm Sunday. Only 14 people have been found alive so far, while another 10 people remain missing, according to the rescue headquarters.


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