WEB DESK

At least eight people have died after a Hong Kong-flagged cargo vessel sank off Japan yesterday.

The Japan Coast Guard said that Hong Kong-registered 6,551-ton Jintian carried 22 crew members, including 14 Chinese and eight Burmese, sank in the East China Sea off the coast of southwestern Nagasaki province. According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, South Korean and Japanese coast guards and local fishermen rescued 13 crew members. The vessel was sailing towards South Korea’s southwestern port city of Incheon from Malaysia, carrying wood. A search and rescue operation is still going on for the missing crew.