Ship with 24 Chinese crew sinks off Philippines

BEIJING - A cargo ship with 24 Chinese crew on board sank in the waters off the Philippines Friday. Fourteen people have been saved while 10 were still missing, a media report said Saturday.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Supdt. Agrimero Cruz said Saturday the Panama-flagged cargo vessel MV Hong Wei sank about 120 nautical miles (222 km) off the Itbayat island at around 3.22 p.m. Friday, Xinhua reported.

Cruz, however, did not say what caused the vessel to sink.

A passing vessel - MV Shun Tong - and a Taiwan coast guard ship rescued 12 crew members and two passengers, respectively, said Cruz.

Three Taiwan coast guard ships were at the scene to conduct search and rescue operations for the 10 missing crew members.