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32 missing, including 30 Iranians, in sea collision in China

32 missing, including 30 Iranians, in sea collision in China

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

This photo released by Costa Rica's Public Safety Ministry shows people standing at the site of a plane crash near in Punta Islita, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017. A government statement says there were 10 foreigners and two Costa Rican crew members aboard the plane belonging to Nature Air, which had taken off nearby. (Costa Rica's Public Safety Ministry via AP)

BEIJING: China's Ministry of Transport says 32 crew members from an Iranian oil tanker are missing after it collided with a bulk freighter and caught fire off China's eastern coast.

The ministry says 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis on the tanker Sanchi are unaccounted for following the collision late Saturday with the Hong Kong-registered freighter CF Crystal. The ministry says the tanker was 'completely lost to fire.' The Panama-registered vessel was sailing from Iran to South Korea when it collided with the Crystal 257 kilometers (160 miles) from shore. All 21 members of the Crystal's crew — all Chinese nationals — have been rescued. Chinese authorities are carrying out a search and rescue effort for the missing tanker crew.