North Korean cargo ship sinks

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North Korean cargo ship sinks

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19 November,2009 08:39 pm

Chinese maritime rescue teams saved 15 North Koreans after their cargo ship sank off the Chinese coast, China's state media reported. Twenty crew members were aboard the vessel when it was toppled by strong winds and waves some 90 nautical miles southeast of Dalian in northeast China around noon on Tuesday, official state news agency Xinhua said. Three crew members died and two were still missing on Thursday, state television CCTV reported. It took rescue teams nine hours to locate and reach the sailors. The rescuers found thirteen survivors on life rafts after spotting the life jackets they were wearing, CCTV said. One sailor was rescued by helicopter and another one later found by a Chinese fisherman. Zhao Xunwei, captain of a team participating in the rescue operation said the North Koreans were found drained and drenched in water. Bad weather had complicated the rescue operation, he added. The rescued sailors were recovering from their ordeal at a Korean hotel in Dalian, and had been provided with warm clothing and food, state media said. The cargo ship was en route to Dalian from the North Korean port city of Nampo when it sank, Xinhua quoted Zheng Jian, of the Ministry of Transport's Rescue and Salvage Bureau as saying.