WEB DESK
As many as 32 crew members of an Iranian ship have lost their lives after burning of the vessel for more than a week in the East China Sea. Iranian officials said yesterday the dead includes 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis.
The Panamanian-flagged vessel collided with the CF Crystal, a Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter on 6th of this month, about 160 nautical miles east of Shanghai. That area of the East China Sea is frequently crossed by ships travelling to China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. The tanker was carrying one lakh 36 thousand tons of condensate, a light oil, to South Korea from Iran, China’s Ministry of Transport said. It was not clear how much had spilt or burned off after the collision.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif issued separate messages of condolences over the death of sailors. The Iranian Cabinet declared today as a nationwide day of public mourning over the tanker disaster
