TOKYO (AP) — Japanese coast guard rescuers were searching Wednesday for nine people believed missing after a Chinese ship sank off Japan’s western coast.

The coast guard said that its regional branch dispatched a patrol ship to look for the missing for at the request of Chinese rescue authorities.

Coast guard official Naoto Ishimaru said they are crewmembers of Chinese-registered cargo ship Lurongyu 2859. The ship sank Tuesday in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Shimane prefecture in western Japan. He said China informed Japanese officials that five crewmembers have been rescued.

Other details, including nationalities of the crew members, were not immediately known.

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