A coast guard helicopter and two rescue ships from the mainland went to the aid of a Taiwan fishing boat that caught fire in the Beibu Gulf off China's south coast on Monday.

The fishing boat, sailing off the coast of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, caught fire Monday morning. All seven crewmembers were rescued in the afternoon. Several, including the captain, were injured, but all were declared out of danger.

The South China Sea Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Communications dispatched the helicopter and ships to the accident site, west of Weizhou Isle in the Beibu Gulf and 60 nautical miles (110 kilometers) from the city of Beihai.

According to an official surnamed Zhou from the bureau's headquarters in Guangzhou, the ship, named No. 12 Decheng, had four crew from the mainland and three from Taiwan. The captain is from Taiwan.

Zhou said they received the report of the accident at 9:05 AM Monday.

The ship sent its first SOS to Taiwan, and then, through the Hong Kong Marine Department, to rescue centers in Guangxi and Guangzhou. This delayed the start of rescue operations by several minutes, said Zhou.

The helicopter flew from Zhanjiang, a city in the west of Guangdong Province. The two rescue ships were from Haikou, the capital of Hainan Province, and Beihai, in Guangxi.

(China Daily April 5, 2005)