9 missing after boat capsizes in S China waters

Rescuers are still searching for nine people who went missing after their boat capsized on waters off Zhuhai city, south China's Guangdong province, on early Tuesday morning.

Wang Shiyun, deputy head of the Zhuhai Maritime Affairs Bureau, said Wednesday that a man who was rescued Tuesday morning told rescuers that he was with nine others when the Hong Kong-registered boat capsized at around 4am when they were trying to enter Zhuhai from Macao illegally.

The man was rescued by a fisherman after being adrift on an empty oil barrel on the sea for four hours.

Wang said rescue vessels have found the boat and pulled it ashore on Tuesday. But no traces of the survivors have been found.

He said the bureau on Wednesday has dispatched helicopters and patrol vessels to expand the searching areas for the missing.