A search has been called off for eight missing people who went missing after their boat capsized near a harbor at the estuary of the Yangtze River, east China, more than a week ago.

There is no hope of finding the missing sailors alive, said a spokesman from the Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Bureau.

"Since the accident happened on April 20, rescuers from provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu have made more than 1,000 trips into the waterways and even to offshore waters, hoping to find those missing. They found only the remains of one sailor," said the spokesman.

A cargo ship carrying rock with 11 people on board capsized near Haimen, a port in east China's Jiangsu Province, at about 3 AM on April 20 when it attempted to drop anchor at a dock in Haimen to take shelter from high winds.

All the 11 sailors were thrown into the waters. Only two people were rescued later.

The ship, registered in Zhejiang Province, was en route from Daishan County in east China's Zhejiang Province to Changxing Island of Shanghai.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2007)