Backgrounder: Major world ferry accidents since 2000

BEIJING - A cruise ship with more than 450 people on board sank in China's Yangtze River after being hit by a tornado late Monday night. So far, rescuers have found 14 survivors and retrieved 65 bodies, leaving more than 370 people still unaccounted for.

There were quite a few such tragedies in human history caused by either human errors or natural factors. The following are some major ferry accidents around the world since the year 2000:

On April 16, 2014, a 6,825-ton ferry sank off South Korea's southwest coast, leaving 295 passengers dead and nine others still missing. Among 476 passengers on board, 172 were rescued. Most of the survivors are still suffering from the trauma.

On Aug 16, 2013, two ships with about 700 passengers and crew members on board collided in the central Philippine province of Cebu, killing nearly 140 people.

On March 13, 2012, more than 130 people were killed after an overcrowded ferry carrying about 200 passengers capsized in a river in Bangladesh's southern Munshiganj district.

On July 5, 2011, a vessel carrying passengers from Sudan to Saudi Arabia caught fire and sank off Sudan's coast, leaving 197 people killed and three others rescued.

On April 6, 2011, a boat carrying 300 African refugees was wrecked in the sea off the coast of southern Italy, leaving more than 20 people dead and 48 rescued. The rest remain missing.

On Aug 5, 2009, the Tongan ferry "Princess Ashika" sank while traveling from the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa to Ha'afeva, in the Nomuka Islands group. Two passengers were killed, while the whereabouts of 93 others were unknown.

On June 21, 2008, the Philippine passenger ferry "M/V Princess of the Stars" with 862 people aboard capsized off the Philippines' central province of Romblon at the height of Typhoon Fengshen. Only 50 passengers survived.

On May 4, 2007, a boat carrying about 150 Haitians capsized near Providenciales Island in the Atlantic Ocean, leaving at least 61 people dead.

On Feb 26, 2004, an explosion ripped apart the "Superferry 14" in Manila Bay, killing at least 73 people.

On Sept 26, 2002, Senegal's state-owned ferry "Joola," designed to carry 550 people, capsized off the Gambian coast with nearly 2,000 passengers and crew aboard, killing 1,863 people.

On Sept 26, 2000, a Greek ferry sank in the Aegean Sea, leaving at least 79 people dead.