8 dead, including Chinese sailors, in a shipwreck off Japan

A photo distributed by the South Korean Coast Guard to Coast Guard forces searching for missing persons after the sinking of the cargo ship.

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Eight people, including six Chinese sailors, died as a result of the sinking of a cargo ship off the coast of Japan, according to a new toll announced by Chinese state television yesterday.

"Eight deaths have been confirmed, including six Chinese," said the Consul General of China in the city of Fukuoka in southern Japan, Levi Guijin, to the state broadcaster "China International Television Network" (CGTN), in an interview.

There were 22 crew members - 14 from China and eight from Myanmar - on the 6,551-ton Jin Tian.

The ship sank early Wednesday morning, about 160 km southwest of Nagasaki, Japan.

Gugen said five crew members, including four Chinese nationals, were rescued.

Eight or nine others are still missing, according to various reports.

According to Bloomberg news agency, China has asked Japanese rescue teams to continue searching for the other nine crew members who are still missing, according to Guijin.

The ship had sent a distress signal late on Tuesday evening, according to another report by China International Television Network.

Shipping websites said the ship left Malaysia's Port Klang on December 3 and headed for Incheon port in South Korea.

The ship was registered in Hong Kong and was carrying timber.

The incident came at a time when a cold wave was hitting most of Asia, with temperatures in the morning periods on some of the Japanese islands closest to the site of the rescue operation reaching only three degrees Celsius. 

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