On July 26, answering reporters' questions requesting to update information related to the Khoi Nguyen 18 ship encountering an accident at sea, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said:
According to information from Vietnamese authorities, the Khoi Nguyen 18 ship with 62 people was sunk while operating in bad weather conditions in the East Sea.
According to the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, immediately after the incident occurred, Vietnamese functional forces immediately coordinated closely and urgently to the scene.
With the support of rescue and relief forces from the Chinese side with ships and helicopters and ships near the area where the ship encountered an accident, Vietnam has deployed rescue and relief work and by noon on July 26, 45 people had been rescued" - Ms. Hang said.
According to Ms. Hang, functional forces and fishing boats are actively searching for the remaining people and are ready with rescue measures and timely support for citizens.
Functional agencies have had timely information to the families of the victims, continuously updating the search and rescue situation and next measures to bring citizens ashore safely.
We would like to thank the Chinese functional forces for quickly supporting the Vietnamese side in search and rescue and hope that the two sides will continue to closely coordinate to search for the remaining people" - Ms. Pham Thu Hang shared.
