Five people have been rescued after two cargo ships collided off the coast of China's southern Guangdong province, but seven crew members are still "trapped" inside a cabin, state media said Tuesday.
The five rescued from a sunken ship cabin on Tuesday afternoon told rescue staff that the other seven were trapped inside and still alive, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The collision occurred at about 3:00 am on Monday near the Pearl River estuary.
One ship carrying over 5,000 tons of steel managed to make it to shore, but the second ship carrying 5,000 tons of sand sank after the collision, the Guangzhou maritime search and rescue centre said on Monday.
Two crew members from the sunken ship and all eleven sailors from the steel ship were initially rescued on Monday.
Some 300 people, including more than 20 divers, were participating in search efforts Tuesday.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident, according to Xinhua.
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