Disaster teams have found hundreds more bodies overnight and on Saturday morning after pulling the overturned river cruise boat upright with cranes and gradually raising it up from the currents of the river.

The state broadcaster CCTV said 396 bodies have been found. That leaves more than 100 still missing.

The boat with 456 overturned on Monday night in what authorities have attributed to sudden severe winds.

Fourteen people survived, including the captain and first engineer who have been placed under police custody.

Chinese authorities began on Thursday to right the cruise ship, after divers sent to search for survivors found no signs of life inside.

A huge net was placed near the two large cranes that were used to right the ship, and another one a few metres downstream, to catch any bodies.

Two smaller cranes were also on site and boats were stopped from entering the area.

After the capsizing, there were claims that there was never a tornado.

Some of the 14 people who survived the disaster jumped from the ship during the early moments and swam ashore.

Three of them were pulled by divers from air pockets inside the overturned hull on Tuesday after rescuers heard yells for help coming from inside.