Three Chinese killed in ship collision near S.Korea

SEOUL, Mar 20 (Reuters) Three Chinese were killed and nine were missing after their ship collided with a South Korean vessel and sank, a South Korean coast guard official said today.

Five Chinese crew members were rescued by South Korean authorities. The collision of the two commercial vessels took place in the predawn hours of today a few kilometres west of South Korean islands in the Yellow Sea near the port of Inchon.

A coast guard official gave no cause for the collision, which happened amid choppy sea conditions.

South Korea's navy and coast guard had sent ships and aircraft to search for the missing from the 2,972-tonne Chinese vessel, the coast guard official said by telephone.

There were no significant injuries among the crew of the bigger South Korean vessel, the official said.

REUTERS KD PM1048