7 missing after fishing vessel collides with cargo ship near Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Seven people were still missing one day after a fishing boat collided with a cargo ship near China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Government Flying Service (GFS) of Hong Kong said on Sunday.

The collision happened at sea about 60 miles (96 km) southeast of Hong Kong on Saturday night, GFS said in a statement, adding that the fishing vessel sank following the collision.

The GFS received at 9:20 p.m. local time on Saturday (1320 GMT) a request by Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) for assistance in the search and rescue mission. The GFS rescuers picked up one person in water and brought the person back to GFS base for ambulance transfer to hospital, while a total of seven people were still missing.

The GFS continued the search and rescue mission on Sunday on the request of the MRCC, but did not find the missing persons.

The search has been suspended, the GFS said. Enditem