Photo taken on Sept 15, 2014, shows a water search and rescue exercise being undertaken in Taicang, Jiangsu province. [Photo/Taicang Daily]

The 2014 Taicang water search and rescue drill was carried out on Sept 15 in the Taicang segment of the Yangtze River.

The drill practiced eight activities, including alarm response, victim search and rescue, emergency response, ship fire extinguishing, pollutant cleaning, ship dragging, positioning and salvaging of underwater containers with dangerous chemicals.

In the simulated exercise, five drowning shipmen were rescued within a short time; a fire on the ship was put out within 10 minutes; and five submerged containers were salvaged out of the water within one hour.

The rescue drill, involving 14 rescue vessels, two fire engines, two ambulances, one weather testing vehicle, one emergency communication vehicle and more than 300 rescuers, aimed at testing the abilities of emergency response and communication, as well as maritime search and rescue.

The exercise was jointly organized by the Taicang municipal government, Taicang maritime search and rescue center and Taicang maritime safety administration.