Two cargo boats collided on Saturday morning, with sunken containers partly blocking the traffic near the mouth of the Pearl River in south China's Guangdong Province, local authorities said. All the eight crew members have been rescued.

The accident occurred at 3:50 AM on the Lianhuashan west waterway where outgoing cargo vessel Xiehang 528 crashed with inbound container vessel Anping 6, leaving eight men and 43 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEU) on Xiehang 528 in the water, according to Guangzhou Maritime Affairs Bureau.

Rescuers salvaged all the eight crew and 39 containers.

The maritime authority has imposed a temporary ban on navigation on the affected waterway.

It is still unknown what the TEUs contain. No pollution to the water was reported.

The investigation into the cause of the accident and the salvage of the remaining four containers continue.

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2007)