Rescue work continued on Wednesday as 58 fishermen remain missing in the South China Sea after three fishing boats sank due to Typhoon Wutip on Sunday afternoon.
Authorities are checking and confirming the list of missing people, said public security and civil affairs authorities in Taishan City in south China's Guangdong Province, where the boats were registered.
A total of 88 fishermen and their five boats, all from Guangdong, went missing near Shanhu Island in the Xisha Islands, about 330 km from China's island province of Hainan.
Three boats are confirmed to have sunk, and four fishermen have been confirmed dead.
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, rescuers had saved 12 fishermen and temporarily sheltered them on Yongqing Island off the coast of Hainan.
Wutip gained power, growing into a super typhoon as it swept across nearby waters on Sunday and packing winds of up to 151.2 km per hour at its eye.
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