TWO fishermen were missing last night after going to the rescue of their stricken colleagues in rough seas south of Hong Kong.
The men went to search for a sampan which had lost contact with its parent fishing vessel as gale force winds whipped up seas in some of Hong Kong's favoured fishing grounds.
But the attempted rescue turned sour when their sampan also lost contact, while other vessels in the area picked up their colleagues.
Despite two searches of the area by a Government Flying Service fixed wing spotter plane yesterday, the missing sampan was not found.
Bad weather in the area means the search, which was suspended at nightfall, may not resume this morning.
'We will make a decision at the time,' said a Marine Department spokesman.