Taipei, April 8 (CNA) Three fishermen aboard a stranded Taiwanese fishing boat in the northern Philippines were rescued Thursday while another three were missing, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said later that day.
The Okinawa-registered Taiwanese fishing boat the Cheng Cheng Feng, with a crew of six -- two Taiwanese and four Indonesians -- ran aground early Thursday, the ministry said.
However, a story published by German's Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reported that all six had been rescued. The story quoted Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian, a regional police director, as saying that one was rescued by helicopter and the other five were rescued by other vessels from rough waters off Mabudis Island, Batanes Province, 540 km north of Manila.
The MOFA said it immediately instructed Taiwan's representative office in the Philippines to contact the Philippine authorities upon learning that the three men were still missing. After receiving approval from the Philippines, Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration dispatched rescue boats to the area for a joint search and rescue mission with its Philippine counterparts, the ministry said.
The mission to find the three missing men was still ongoing, the MOFA said.
Local authorities suspect that the fishermen were poaching in the area when the accident occurred, Damian was quoted by DPA as saying. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J