08:39, 15-Jan-2018
Iranian Oil Tanker Sinks: A timeline of incidents off the east coast of China
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Here's a recap of the past week as that tanker burned.
This began on January 6th when the two ships collided 160 nautical miles off the coast of China in the East China Sea. The freighter's 21 crew members -- all Chinese nationals -- were rescued. But the tanker's crew - 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis - were not. Their ship caught fire after the collision.
The next day, eight vessels and an aircraft were dispatched to search for possible survivors. Two days later on the 9th, one body, believed to be a sailor from the Iranian tanker was found. Saturday's recovery of two more bodies brought the total confirmed dead to three.
The tanker, Sanchi, sunk a few hours ago after exploding at noon. Flames from the blast shot hundreds of meters into the sky.