Chinese search and rescue officials pulled 12 bodies Monday from waters southwest of Hong Kong Monday after an engineering vessel snapped in two as tropical storm Chaba tore through.
Maritime authorities of the southern province of Guangdong were ramping up efforts to identify the bodies that were retrieved about 50 nautical miles from where the ship sank.
Four of its crew were rescued by Monday, but rescue officials warn there are “very slim” chances of finding others alive.
Seven planes and hundreds of boats and fishing vessels have joined the search effort.
The sunken vessel, ‘Fujing 001’, with a crew of 30, was at an anti-typhoon anchorage in waters near Yangjiang in Guangdong when its anchor chain snapped.
China’s first typhoon of the year, Chaba skirted Hong Kong but brought heavy rain and wind to southern provinces already water-logged from weeks of torrential rain and thunderstorms over the weekend.
