Twelve bodies have been found after the sinking of a boat that broke in two in the passage of a typhoon in the South China Sea on Saturday, Chinese authorities said Monday.
“Rescue teams have found and recovered 12 bodies,” said the Maritime Search and Rescue Center in Guangdong, a Chinese province that is close to Hong Kong. “The relevant authorities are intensifying work to identify the bodies,” the agency added.
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According to a statement released over the weekend, the tragedy left 30 people missing. The engineering vessel was 250 km southwest of Hong Kong when it was hit by storm Chaba. Typhoon Chaba hit the southern province of Guangdong on Saturday afternoon.
The point where the boat was registered winds of 144 km/h and waves up to 10 meters high, according to the authorities. Seven aircraft and several ships and fishing boats have been mobilized to try to find the remaining missing people, according to the Search and Rescue Center.
