AKIPRESS.COM - Ship horns wailed as hundreds of people gathered in the drizzle Sunday to mourn the victims of the Eastern Star disaster.

More than 500 rescue workers and government officials at the site bowed their heads during a three-minute silence Sunday, the seventh day since the ship capsized with the loss of more than 430 souls. According to Chinese tradition, the seventh day is a key occasion to mourn the passing of the dead.

Families of the victims prayed for their loved ones on the riverbank or in their hotels.

Authorities in Jianli are planning to build a memorial for the deadly shipwreck.

By Sunday evening, 432 bodies have been found and 10 people remain missing. Fourteen survived.

Hu Kaihong, deputy director of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office, told a news conference Sunday that the search is continuing and authorities are matching the DNA of the victims with blood samples provided by their relatives.

Rescuers are still searching along the Yangtze River from Jianli where the ship sank, 1,400 km downstream to Shanghai, reports Xinhua state news agency.