AN Iranian oil tanker that caught fire after colliding with a freighter off China’s east coast is at risk of exploding and sinking.
The news came as three countries struggled to find its 32 missing crew members and contain oil spewing from the blazing wreck.
State broadcaster China Central Television, citing Chinese officials, said none of the 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis who have been missing since the collision late on Saturday have been found as of yesterday.
Meanwhile, search and clean-up efforts have been hampered by fierce fires and poisonous gases that have completely consumed the tanker and surrounding waters, CCTV reported.
The Panama-registered tanker Sanchi was sailing from Iran to South Korea when it collided with the Hong Kong-registered freighter CF Crystal in the East China Sea, 160 miles off the coast of Shanghai.
China, South Korea and the US have sent ships and planes to search for Sanchi’s crew.
All 21 crew members of the Crystal, which was carrying grain from the United States to China, were rescued. The Crystal’s crew members were all Chinese nationals.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collision.
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