Ten fatalities and 70 hospitalizations occurred after four tourist boats capsized during a sudden storm on the Wu River in Guizhou province, China, state media reported on Monday, May 5, 2025.
The event occurred around 4:40 p.m. on Sunday, May 4, when strong winds with rain and hail impacted the scenic area in Qianxi city, resulting in all 84 passengers being thrown into the river. Initially, reports suggested that only two tourist boats had capsized, but authorities later confirmed that four vessels were involved.
Two capsized boats had passengers aboard, while the other two were docked with no tourists. According to state broadcaster CCTV, the seven crew members of these docked vessels managed to save themselves.
State media indicated that rescue operations continued overnight, with nearly 500 workers, including police, firefighters, and medical personnel, deployed to assist in the search efforts. By Monday morning, 83 people had been accounted for, 70 received hospital treatment for minor injuries, and four escaped unharmed.
The last missing person was found around noon on Monday but showed no vital signs, raising the death toll to 10, as reported by China Central Television.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all-out efforts” to locate the missing and provide care for the injured, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing is reportedly overseeing the relief efforts at the site.
In one video shared by state media, a rescuer was seen performing CPR on a victim while one of the vessels drifted upside down nearby.
CCTV reported that the capsized boats had a maximum capacity of about 40 people each and were not overloaded at the time of the incident. The city’s meteorological bureau had issued a yellow alert for thunderstorms and strong winds before the accident. Witnesses noted that the weather seemed calm and clear just before the storm struck.
An eyewitness told state-owned Beijing News that while the waters were deep, some passengers managed to swim to safety. “However, the storm had come suddenly, and a thick mist obscured the surface of the river,” the witness said.
The Wu River is a tributary of the Yangtze, China’s longest river. The mountains and rivers of Guizhou province are popular tourist attractions, especially during the five-day May Day holiday that concluded on Monday. Hotel bookings across the province reportedly rose by a third on the holiday’s first day.
On Sunday, the China Meteorological Administration warned of anticipated heavy downpours in southwestern and southern China, including Guizhou and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
President Xi highlighted a recent series of fatal accidents and stressed the need to enhance safety measures at tourist locations, large public venues, and residential communities. He also emphasized the importance of increased safety during the rush of travelers returning at the end of major holidays.
This incident follows another serious boating accident in February 2025 in Hunan province, where 11 people were killed after a passenger boat collided with an oil spill cleaning ship and capsized. Additionally, another accident occurred over the weekend in the eastern city of Suzhou, when a sightseeing helicopter crashed in a newly opened park, resulting in one fatality and four injuries.
