At least 23 people were missing while 39 were rescued after a Vietnamese vessel sank in the South China Sea, prompting an ongoing search operation on Sunday, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported.
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Authorities in China's southern Hainan province said the cargo vessel Khoi Nguyen 18, carrying 62 Vietnamese nationals, encountered distress in waters near Fiery Cross Reef.
A distress flare from the vessel was first spotted by the Chinese rescue ship Nanhai Jiu 115 on Saturday evening. The Vietnamese-registered vessel is nearly 70 metres (230 feet) long and has a gross tonnage of 999 tonnes.
The search and rescue operation involved six Chinese vessels, a rescue helicopter and a Vietnamese ship, according to authorities.
The reef lies within the disputed Spratly Islands, known in China as the Nansha Islands—a chain of reefs, islets and atolls in the resource-rich South China Sea.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire strategic waterway, including the Spratly Islands, where it has built airstrips and militarised artificial islands. However, Beijing's expansive territorial claims overlap with those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
