3 survive, 13 bodies recovered in collision

Survivors and bodies of all crew members from a Chinese mainland fishing vessel have been recovered from international waters off the Japanese coast, officials said.

In all, three men survived and 13 were pulled from the water dead, the Chinese consulate-general's office in Osaka said.

The identities of the 13 victims, which have been transferred to nearby Chinese boats, were being verified.

The fishing vessel, identified as the 290-metric-ton Lurong Yuanyu 378, capsized after colliding Thursday morning with the 63,294-ton tanker Bright Oil Lucky out of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The Japanese Coast Guard sent three patrol vessels and several divers to search for the Chinese fishermen.

The collision was some 400 kilometers north of the Oki Islands off western Japan, according to the consulate-general's staff.