A total of 12 people were missing after a fishing vessel from the Chinese mainland collided with a tanker of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region early Thursday in international waters some 400 km north of the Oki Islands in western Japan, according to the Chinese Consulate-General in Osaka.

(File photo of the Hong Kong tanker. Photo by oeeee.com)

Four of the 16 crew members on board the fishing vessel have been rescued, while 12 others were still missing, said the consulate-general.

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The Japan Coast Guard has set up a response unit and sent three patrol vessels to the area where the accident happened.

The consulate-general immediately set up an emergency response unit headed by the consul general upon receiving the report about the accident.

It has sent a working group to the scene to help with the rescue and is keeping contact with the Japan Coast Guard.