58 fishermen missing in South China Sea

Rescue work continued Wednesday as 58 fishermen remain missing in the South China Sea after three fishing boats sank due to Typhoon Wutip Sunday afternoon.

Authorities are checking and confirming the list of missing people, said public security and civil affairs authorities in Taishan city in China's Guangdong province, where the boats were registered, Xinhua reported.

A total of 88 fishermen and their five boats, all from Guangdong, went missing near Xisha group of islands, about 330 km from China's island province of Hainan.

Three boats are confirmed to have sunk, and four fishermen have been confirmed dead.

More than 10,000 soldiers from the navy participated in the rescue mission Wednesday, searching for survivors in waters covering an area of 15,000 square km.

Although the fishermen received typhoon warnings, they did not pay heed to it. They placed their ships in a lagoon south of Shanhu island to avoid gales, but the typhoon overturned their boats.

Wutip gained power, growing into a super typhoon as it swept across nearby waters Sunday and packed winds of up to 150 km per hour at its eye.