Premier Li Keqiang has been in telephone communication with rescue and search teams in Jianli county from his bus after arriving in Wuhan, Hubei province.

A passenger ship, named Dongfangzhixing (Eastern Star), carrying 458 people sank at around 9:28 p.m. of June 1 in the Hubei section of China’s Yangtze River, according to Hubei provincial government emergency office.

He ordered authorities to get special equipment onto the scene as quickly as possible to cut into the upturned hull of the ferry and set up an oxygen supply into the vessel.

The Premier emphasized the importance of speed in rescue efforts.