2 bodies recovered after Chinese deep-sea fishing vessel capsizes in Indian Ocean
- Multi-nation search and rescue operation continues for dozens of crew members from stricken ship.
- China asks Australia to boost search efforts in massive area south of the Maldives
Chinese naval vessels recovered two bodies on Thursday afternoon, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the transport ministry. There was no word on the nationalities of the two victims.
The Lupeng Yuanyu 028, a distant-water fishing vessel, capsized on Tuesday morning with 17 Chinese sailors, 17 Indonesians and five Filipinos on board. The exact location and the cause of the incident remained unclear.
According to ship-tracking site FleetMon, the boat left Cape Town in South Africa on May 3 and appeared to be heading to South Korea.
As of Thursday afternoon, nine Chinese vessels – including three naval ships and four fishing boats – and one foreign vessel were involved in the search, according to Xinhua. Two more Chinese vessels were expected to arrive on Friday afternoon to join the search.
The transport ministry was coordinating with departments including the foreign ministry and the ministry of agriculture and rural affairs to dispatch rescue forces.