Ziyang County, Shaanxi Province, northwest China - July 17, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of ships drifting on river
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Chong Manxing, deputy director, Maritime Affairs Bureau of Ziyang County (starting with shot 1):
"One of the ship is over 30 meters long, the other being over 60 meters long. As they continued to drift under the pushing of the turbulent water, our greatest concern is that they may collide into the bridge pier horizontally, causing unbearable consequences."
3. Various of ships drifting on river
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Chong Manxing, deputy director, Maritime Affairs Bureau of Ziyang County:
"Because there was no facility to fix the anchor on the bank, we could only tie it to a tree. As the water picked up speed, the ship was once again rushed away by the water, breaking the wire rope and snapping the tree."
5. Various of rescuers bringing runway ship under control

Local authorities successfully prevented two runaway ships from colliding into bridges on a turbulent river in Ziyang County of northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Wednesday.

One of the ship first ran out of control due to the impact of the rising river water triggered by torrential rains.

Local authorities immediately dispatched public service vessels to conduct rescue work and evacuated the only sailor on board.

The rescuers also attempted to control the runaway ship but failed due to the billowy water.

After drifting two kilometers, the ship collided with another one and also sent it into drifting, threatening the three bridges standing one kilometer away downstream.

"One of the ships is over 30 meters long, the other being over 60 meters long. As they continued to drift under the pushing of the turbulent water, our greatest concern is that they may collide into the bridge pier horizontally, causing unbearable consequences," said Chong Manxing, deputy director of the Maritime Affairs Bureau of the county.

Then the authorities attempted to intercept the ships with the public service vessels and two large cargo ships requisitioned from the nearby region.

At around 14:00, the two ships were brought under control and tied to a tree on the bank with a wire rope. But as the water became much fiercer, one of the ship again ran out of control one hour later, bringing several intercepting ships along with it.

"Because there was no facility to fix the anchor on the bank, we could only tie it to a tree. As the water picked up speed, the ship was once again rushed away by the water, breaking the wire rope and snapping the tree," said Chong.

The local authorities once again dispatched vessels to control the ship, and successfully brought it into safe water area at around 18:00 with no casualty.