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8 Confirmed Dead in Ship Sinking off Japan and South Korea

In this photo provided by the Korea Coast Guard, a South Korea coast guard vessel conducts a search operation in waters between South Korea and Japan, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (The Korea Coast Guard via AP)
In this photo provided by the Korea Coast Guard, a South Korea coast guard vessel conducts a search operation in waters between South Korea and Japan, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (The Korea Coast Guard via AP)
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8 Confirmed Dead in Ship Sinking off Japan and South Korea

In this photo provided by the Korea Coast Guard, a South Korea coast guard vessel conducts a search operation in waters between South Korea and Japan, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (The Korea Coast Guard via AP)
In this photo provided by the Korea Coast Guard, a South Korea coast guard vessel conducts a search operation in waters between South Korea and Japan, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (The Korea Coast Guard via AP)

A Chinese official said Thursday that eight people have died in the sinking of a cargo ship in waters between Japan and South Korea.

Lyu Guijun, the consul general in the western Japanese city of Fukuoka, told state broadcaster CGTN that six of the eight victims were Chinese, The Associated Press said.

There were 22 crew members — 14 from China and eight from Myanmar — on the 6,551-ton Jin Tian. It sank early Wednesday about 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Nagasaki, Japan.

Five of the crew have been rescued, including four Chinese, Lyu said. Another eight or nine remain missing, according to varying reports.

Maritime transport websites said the vessel left Malaysia’s Port Klang on Dec. 3 and was headed for South Korea’s Incheon port. The Hong Kong-registered ship was carrying lumber.

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China Discovers Cluster of New Mpox Strain

A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
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China Discovers Cluster of New Mpox Strain

A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Chinese health authorities said on Thursday they had detected the new mutated mpox strain clade Ib as the viral infection spreads to more countries after the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency last year.
China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention said it had found a cluster outbreak of the Ib subclade that started with the infection a foreigner who has a history of travel and residence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Reuters reported.
Four further cases have been found in people infected after close contact with the foreigner. The patients' symptoms are mild and include skin rash and blisters.
Mpox spreads through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. Although usually mild, it can be fatal in rare cases.
WHO last August declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that spread to neighboring countries.
The outbreak in DRC began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But the clade Ib variant appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.
The variant has spread from DRC to neighboring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, triggering the emergency declaration from the WHO.
China said in August last year it would monitor people and goods entering the country for mpox.
The country's National Health Commission said mpox would be managed as a Category B infectious disease, enabling officials to take emergency measures such as restricting gatherings, suspending work and school, and sealing off areas when there is an outbreak of a disease.