China rescuers recover two bodies, black box from Iranian tanker

BEIJING: Chinese rescuers Saturday recovered two bodies and the “black box” from a stricken Iranian oil tanker which has been ablaze for the past week off the east coast of China, the transport ministry said.

The Sanchi, carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil from Iran, has been in flames since colliding with the CF Crystal, a Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter, 160 nautical miles east of Shanghai last Saturday. It had a crew of 32 — 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis. With the latest find a total of three bodies have now been recovered.

The remaining sailors are still missing. “At 0837 (0037 GMT), four rescuers equipped with masks and bottles of oxygen were placed at the deck at the back of the Sanchi with the help of a crane,” the Chinese transport ministry said in a statement. “They discovered the bodies of two sailors in a lifeboat.” A video released by the ministry shows rescuers wearing white helmets and orange jumpsuits walking on the tanker, whose grey metallic structure appears to have been devastated by fire.