Eight people are missing after their fishing boat sank off the coast of east China's Zhejiang Province Tuesday, local authorities said.

The accident took place at about 4 p.m. on the East China Sea near Xiangshan County of Ningbo City, when the ship encountered strong winds and sank, a spokesman with the local border defense authorities said.

All 15 fishermen aboard the ship fell into water, and seven of them were later rescued.

Rescuers from maritime affairs and border defense authorities are searching the area for the missing people, the spokesman said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2009)