Two Vietnamese fishing boats have claimed they were attacked by Chinese vessels in an incident in which saw one of the boats sunk.
The incident occurred on July 9 when the fishing boats from the central province of Quang Ngai, captained by Vo Van Luu and Huynh Van Khanh were operating in waters off the Paracel Islands, when the two Chinese vessels suddenly appeared and chased them.
The fishing boat captained by Vo Van Luu sunk by the Chinese vessels' attack
The Chinese vessels rammed the Vietnamese boats, causing Luu’s boat with five people on board to sink, and tried to prevent Khanh’s boat from being able to approach and rescue the fishermen.
Khanh said that he could see the crew of the sunk ship hanging on to its bow. Some hours later, when the Chinese ships left that his boat could rescue the exhausted victims.
Khanh’s boat contacted Quang Ngai’s Border Guard to take the five fishermen who are now in stable health condition ashore.