国内英语新闻:Cargo ship with 24 Chinese crew sinks off waters of Philippines, 10 still missing

MANILA, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- A cargo ship with 24 Chinese crew aboard sank off the waters of the Philippines' Batanes province on Friday afternoon, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Saturday.

Quoting a report from the Batanes provincial police office, PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz said Saturday the Panama cargo vessel MV Hong Wei met the incident about 120 nautical miles (222 kilometers) off Itbayat island around 3:22 p.m. Friday.

Cruz could not immediately say what caused the vessel to sink or the vessel's destination.

A passing vessel, MV Shun Tong, and a ship from China's Taiwan region's coast guard rescued 12 crew and two passengers, respectively, said Cruz, adding that at least three ships from Taiwan region's coast guard are currently at the scene to conduct search and rescue operations for the 10 still missing crew members.

A rescue vessel from the Chinese mainland is expected to arrive at the site anytime Saturday to join the search and rescue operations, said Cruz.

Wang Ben, police attache of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Philippines, told Xinhua that the embassy has confirmed the incident with China's Ministry of Transport. The ministry said that rescuing vessels from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan are conducting joint search and rescue operations, said Wang.

The Philippines, a Southeast Asian archipelago country, is located to the south of China.