| Fishing boat capsizes off east China, drowning at least one ( 2003-11-10 21:45) (Xinhua)
 
 
 A fishing boat capsized early 
Monday morning in the sea off the coast of east China's Fujian province, 
drowning at least one person and leaving 21 others missing, local villagers 
said.
 The tragedy occurred when the boat, which local villagers said was carrying 
45 people, had almost reached the dock at Shenhu Bay of Shenhu town in Jinjiang 
city of Fujian province, which faces the Taiwan islands across the Taiwan 
Strait.
 Local police declined to give any details about the accident, but local 
villagers said at least one person had died.
 Xinhua reporters attempted to reach the scene aboard a salvage ship but 
failed because of strong winds. The mast of the fishing boat are blurred and 
invisible from the shore.
 Chen Lanquan, a local fisherman who was helping in the rescue operation, said 
they began to rescue victims at 6 a.m. and saved 23 people from the wreck, but 
he said he did not know if any people aboard might have swum to the shore by 
themselves.
 Zhang Huanqiu, a villager of Lianxi village of neighboring Chongwu town in 
Hui'an county, said the boat was returning from Taiwan where it had picked up 
passengers who worked as contracted fishermen for Taiwan's fishing vessels or 
companies. Zhang said his father was on the boat.
 Twenty-one people who had been rescued were temporarily placed in the local 
coastal police station, Zhang said. 
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