A suspected spy ship which came under fire from a Japanese patrol boat off the coast of Japan sank after a chase and a gun battle in the East China Sea today, it was reported.
The boat, which ignored coastguard orders to stop in a Japanese-administered sector of international waters, sank after being pursued for several hours by a flotilla of 20 boats including two Japanese navy destroyers, Kyodonews agency said.
According to the agency, the ship's crew exchanged automatic weapons fire with the patrol vessel, wounding two coastguards who needed to be airlifted to hospital.
The boat sank shortly afterwards, throwing 15 crewmen into the sea in Chinese-controlled waters. Six have so far been recovered, Kyodo said. Earlier, a coastguard patrol boat had fired warning shots at the vessel, prompting it to flee, an official at the maritime agency's Tokyo head office said.
AFP