Chinese authorities are keeping a tight lid on details of a major ferry sinking in China.

Almost 400 mostly elderly tourists are unaccounted for after a cruise ship capsized in wild weather on the Yangtze River.

Hope is running out of finding them alive.

Sky News correspondent Mark Stone told Newstalk ZB's Andrew Dickens Chinese authorities haven't allowed him or other journalists near the area.

"Whatever happened on that boat, whatever it was that caused it to sink, they'll make sure that it is a controlled message about that that is released."

The captain and chief engineer survived, and are being detained and questioned by authorities.

 

Rescuers have pulled at least three people from the wreckage of a capsized Chinese cruise ship.

Just 14 people have been confirmed as surviving after the Dongfangzhixing, or Eastern Star, overturned and went down.

Six bodies have been recovered from the wreckage, leaving hundreds more still missing, possibly trapped within the ship.

It sank within a matter of seconds with 458 people on board.

The captain and chief engineer, are among the few survivors and are being questioned by police.

Both say their ship was caught in a freak "cyclone".