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Tokyo: Japanese coast guard rescuers were searching on Sunday for at least 13 crew members missing after a Hong Kong freighter and a Chinese fishing boat collided in the
high seas off southern Japan, officials said.
Hong Kong-registered Shinyo Sawako and fishing vessel Lurongyu 2177 collided on Friday night in the East China Sea, about 350 kilometres west of the southern island of Kyushu, according to Japan Coast Guard.
Three people died in the accident, a Japanese regional coast guard official said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.
Rescuers on a Japanese patrol vessel Osumi arrived at the
site early on Sunday to start the search operation, joined by
a Chinese maritime survey ship, the official said, adding
that two more Chinese vessels were on their way to the
scene.
He said Japanese officials, who received the initial accident report from South Korean coast guard via maritime safety radio, did not know the cause of the accident or the
extent of damage to the vessels.
Kyodo News agency said the fishing boat sank shortly after the collision and two of its crew were rescued.
No other details, including the number of crew on each vessel and their nationalities, were immediately known, the Japanese official said.
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