Fishing boat capsizes off east China, drowning at least one ( 2003-11-10 21:45) (Xinhua) A fishing boat capsized early
Monday morning in the sea off the coast of east China's Fujian province,
drowning at least one person and leaving 21 others missing, local villagers
said.
The tragedy occurred when the boat, which local villagers said was carrying
45 people, had almost reached the dock at Shenhu Bay of Shenhu town in Jinjiang
city of Fujian province, which faces the Taiwan islands across the Taiwan
Strait.
Local police declined to give any details about the accident, but local
villagers said at least one person had died.
Xinhua reporters attempted to reach the scene aboard a salvage ship but
failed because of strong winds. The mast of the fishing boat are blurred and
invisible from the shore.
Chen Lanquan, a local fisherman who was helping in the rescue operation, said
they began to rescue victims at 6 a.m. and saved 23 people from the wreck, but
he said he did not know if any people aboard might have swum to the shore by
themselves.
Zhang Huanqiu, a villager of Lianxi village of neighboring Chongwu town in
Hui'an county, said the boat was returning from Taiwan where it had picked up
passengers who worked as contracted fishermen for Taiwan's fishing vessels or
companies. Zhang said his father was on the boat.
Twenty-one people who had been rescued were temporarily placed in the local
coastal police station, Zhang said.
|