Twenty ships have been sent to the Gaoming section of the Xijiang River, in Foshan city of south China's Guangdong Province, to help rescue five people who have been missing since their sand barge capsized early Wednesday morning.

Rescuers said the chance of survival for the missing sailors was very slim.

The provincial and local maritime affairs bureaus planned to salvage the sunken ship on Thursday.

The ship, 63 meters long and 12 meters wide, has a loading capacity of over 1,300 tons.

The owner of the ship reported the accident to Foshan sub- bureau of the Guangdong Provincial Maritime Affairs Bureau at 3 a. m. Wednesday. The owner said he lost contact with the vessel at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Seven sailors were aboard the ship, and two were rescued around 10 a.m. Wednesday while the other five were not found.

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