Ceremonies held for China ship dead

On Sunday the death toll rose to 431, with only 11 still missing as rescuers continue to sweep the Yangtze river.

Earlier, state television showed officials and rescuers bowing their heads towards the ship as nearby vessels sounded their horns.

More than 1,400 family members were expected to gather near the river for their own remembrance ceremonies.

The ship, the Eastern Star, capsized in a storm on Monday and was turned upright in an operation on Friday.

Why did cruise ship capsize?

Sunday marks the seventh day since the ship went down, the traditional Chinese date at which to mourn the dead.

Just 14 of the 456 passengers and crew are known to have survived, among them is the ship's captain.

The tragedy looks set to be China's worst shipping disaster in more than 60 years of Communist rule.

On Friday, hooks were welded onto the four-storey ship and a net stretched around the entire structure in order to lift it by crane.

Most of the bodies retrieved were inside the vessel. Following the ship's raising, the death toll jumped by 200 people.

Rescuers are now sweeping a 1,300 km stretch of the river that extends from Jianli, Hubei Province where the ship capsized, to the port city of Shanghai.

At the time of the disaster, Chinese officials promised there would be "no cover-up" as to the cause of the disaster.

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