HANGZHOU - A fishing boat sank off the coast of East China's Zhejiang province, leaving four sailors dead and three others missing, local authorities said Sunday.

The boat with seven sailors aboard went missing in the sea area near Taizhou city Saturday morning, and local coast guards were immediately dispatched to the area for a search and rescue operation, a spokesman with the Taizhou municipal government said.

Rescuers found Sunday that the boat had sunk and subsequently retrieved the bodies of four sailors, the spokesman said.

Rescuers are still looking for the other three missing people and salvaging the sunken boat, he said.

An investigation into the cause of the accident was underway, he added.