AlQa'dah 24, 1434, Sep 30, 2013, SPA -- A total of 74 people have been confirmed missing after three fishing boats have sunk since Sunday afternoon in a typhoon in South China Sea, maritime authorities said on Monday. The boats, all from south China's Guangdong Province with 88 fishermen aboard, were lost on Sunday afternoon as they attempted to navigate gales near the Xisha Islands, about 330 km from China's island province of Hainan, Xinhua quoted sources with the Hainan maritime search and rescue center as saying. As of Monday noon, rescuers had retrieved 14 survivors, the sources said. Four injured fishermen taking refuge at Chenhang Island were sent to Sansha municipal people's hospital for treatment via a helicopter on Monday afternoon. Altogether five fishing boats with a total of 171 people aboard were caught by Typhoon Wutip, the 21st of the season, the sources said. Four ships were confirmed to be from Taishan City, under the administration of Jiangmen City, in Guangdong Province. The other one was from Hong Kong, according to the Jiangmen municipal government and the Hainan maritime search and rescue center. Two ships, Yuetaiyu 62116 and 62150, sank at about 7:20 p.m on Sunday, according to a statement from the Jiangmen municipal government. The third one, Yuetaiyu 62108, sank at 9:20 a.m. on Monday. One fisherman on board the ship swam to Yagong Island and reported the accident. The other 27 aboard the ship are still missing, according to a Guangdong provincial emergency response office statement on Monday afternoon. The fourth one, Yuetaiyu 61008 had lost power but was working again at 11:30 a.m. on Monday and is heading to the scene of the accident for rescue, according to the statement. Fishermen on the Hong Kong ship were safe, according to the Hainan maritime search and rescue center. Fishermen underestimating the impact of the typhoon contributed to the accident, according to sources with the government of Sansha City. The fishermen had already received typhoon warnings since Friday but did not go ashore. They just laid their ships in a lagoon south of Shanhu Island to avoid gales but the typhoon overturned their boats. An aircraft was sent by the Ministry of Transport at 10:39 a.m. for the rescue operation.
