14 January 2018 - 15:15
  • News ID: 280824
Iran Officials Sympathize with Bereft Families of Sunken Tanker

TEHRAN, Jan. 14 (Shana) – Several Iranian government officials joined President Hassan Rouhani to express their deep grief at the killing of 32 crew members of Sanchi Oil Tanker in China Sea.

President Rouhani issued a message of condolences on Sunday as news broke out that the stricken tanker sunk off China Sea after burning over a week.

In his message, Mr. Rouhani stressed that identification of the found bodies is the first priority of salvage operations in order to alleviate the grief of their bereft families.

The Iranian oil tanker which hit a Chinese freighter last Saturday sank after all efforts to save its 32 onboard crew members failed.

The tanker, which carried 970,000 barrels of crude oil, collided with a Chinese balk freighter in East China Sea on January 6, killing all the 32 crew members.

Rescue operations began by Chinese salvagers who could find 3 bodies during search operations.

Iran sent a team of army rangers to the scene of the incident to help rescue and firefighting efforts.

A Chinese salvage team recovered two bodies on Saturday from Sanchi which was carrying nearly a million barrels of gas condensate, ultra light crude oil, from Iran to South Korea.

The body of a mariner suspected to be from the ship was recovered on Monday and sent to Shanghai for identification, Reuters reported. The rest of the crew, which included 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, remains missing.

The salvage team recovered the voyage data recorder, or “black box” from the bridge, before leaving the vessel less than half an hour after boarding because the wind had shifted and “thick toxic smoke” had complicated the operation, Xinhua said.

News ID 280824

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