South China Sea Typhoon: 74 Chinese Fishermen Missing

Search is ongoing in the South China Sea amid strong gales for 74 crew missing after three fishing boats sank in Typhoon 'Wutip'.

The three boats, all from south China's Guangdong Province with 88 fishermen aboard, were lost on Sunday afternoon near Shanhu Island of the Xisha Islands, about 330 km from China's island province of Hainan, sources with the Hainan maritime search and rescue center informed Xinhua. Of these, 14 survivors had been rescued.

The Chinese Navy's Nanhai Fleet has sent 7 warships, a helicopter and ten rescue teams to search the waters around the scene of the accident. Currently, a total of 277 fishermen trapped in the typhoon have been sheltered by the army at Chenhang Island as of Monday evening.

Two helicopters from Hong Kong also took part in the rescue but had yet to find any survivors, according to the Hong Kong Government Flying Services.

Source: Xinhua