• Dozens fleeing storm feared dead after boat capsizes off Myanmar

    Around 100 people trying to escape a storm are believed to have drowned after their boat capsized off the coast of Myanmar. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Jared Ferrie, Reuters

    SITTWE, Myanmar -- A boat carrying about 100 Rohingya Muslims capsized off western Myanmar with many feared drowned at the start of a mass evacuation from low-lying regions ahead of an approaching storm, a U.N. official said on Tuesday.

    The boat struck rocks off Pauktaw township in Rakhine State and sank late Monday, Barbara Manzi, head of the Myanmar office of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said.

    She said an unknown number of people were missing.

    A military intelligence officer said at least 50 people drowned when the boat went down at around midnight. It was one of six leaving Pauktaw, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

    Kirsten Mildren, a spokeswoman for OCHA in Bangkok, said she understood that a larger boat was towing two smaller, wooden boats without engines, and that 100 to 150 people were on the three vessels.

    Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

    A boy dismantles his tent before moving to safer ground as a storm approaches Sittwe, Myanmar, on Tuesday.

    "We understand that yesterday evening they went out with the approval of government officials. This was part of an official government evacuation plan, although the boats were not government boats. They were moving from a low-lying area to a safer area," she said.

    The approaching storm is a tropical depression named Mahasen, which is expected to strengthen into a cyclone.

    Forecasts by the U.S. Navy's Joint Warning Center show the storm making its way north over the Bay of Bengal. It is expected to make landfall on Thursday near Chittagong in Bangladesh before moving into neighboring Myanmar.

    It threatens a region of Myanmar where about 140,000 victims of ethnic and religious unrest are living in camps. The United Nations warned last week that Myanmar could face a "humanitarian catastrophe" if people were not evacuated.

    The United Nations said about 69,000 people, most of them Rohingya Muslims, were living in "precarious" conditions at risk of flooding and other damage during the rainy season, which begins this month and continues until around September. Mahasen could bring "life-threatening conditions," it said.

    The evacuations, a combined effort between the government and aid agencies, are seen as a test of Myanmar's willingness to assist stateless Rohingya Muslims, an impoverished and long-persecuted people who bore the brunt of sectarian violence in Rakhine State last year.

    Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country but about 5 percent of its 60 million people are Muslims. They face a growing anti-Muslim campaign led by radical Buddhist monks.

    In 2008 a cyclone swept across Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta, south of the old capital, Yangon, killing up to 140,000 people.

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  • Environmental disaster 'ruled out' as Chinese ship sinks in Antarctic, Chile says

    Chile's Navy via AP file

    Chinese factory fishing ship Kai Xin, pictured burning just off the coast of Antarctica, Friday.

    By Luis Andres Henao, The Associated Press

    A Chinese factory fishing ship that burned last week off Antarctica has sunk without anyone on board, Chile's navy said Monday. 

    The vessel Kai Xin caught fire and its 97 crew members were rescued by a Norwegian ship. Then it began to drift in unmanned and in flames, zigzagging dangerously close to glaciers. 

    The Chilean navy said an official representing the ship's owner confirmed that the vessel went down Sunday afternoon near Bransfield Strait at the Antarctic peninsula.

    A Chilean navy tugboat was searching for the ship's remains and stood ready to contain any spilled fuel.

    The first alert of the sinking came from the Chinese fishing ship Fu Rong Hai, which on its way through Antarctic sent an email to the shipowner saying the Kai Xin no longer appeared on radar. Crewmembers then saw fishing nets and small boats drifting in the chilly waters.

    Chile's navy told the Fu Rong Hai to remain there until the navy tugboat Lautaro reached the site and began to search for the sunken ship.

    Officials had feared a damaging oil spill. But Capt. Juan Villegas, maritime governor for Chile's portion of Antarctica, said that appeared unlikely now.

    "An environmental disaster is ruled out because of the fire on board," Villegas told The Associated Press. "Experts say that if there was any fuel on board it has burned out by now."

    The 341-foot Chinese vessel was built in 1990, according to the website of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

    The Kai Xin was operated by Shanghai Kaichuang Marine International Co., a company that specializes in deep-sea fishing, fisheries products and processing. The ship used pelagic trawling to fish and could sail in loose pack ice, according to the commission.

    A company statement posted last week said the fire occurred while the ship was fishing. It said Kaichuang would investigate the cause of the accident and the extent of the damage before releasing more details. 

    Related:

    The Arctic in a pool: Simulator grows sea ice for research

    US pushes for Antarctic marine protections

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Seven crew arrested after Hong Kong boat collision kills 38

    Vincent Yu / AP

    A half submerged boat is lifted by cranes Tuesday, after Monday night's collision near Lamma Island, off the southwestern coast of Hong Kong Island.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    Police on Tuesday arrested seven crew members from two boats carrying partygoers that collided, killing at least 38 people in one of Hong Kong's deadliest maritime accidents.

    Police Commissioner Tsang Wai-hung said six people, including captains from both vessels, were detained on suspicion of endangering passengers by operating the craft unsafely. "We expect further persons to be arrested," Tsang said. Police announced a seventh arrest after his comments.

    Tsang said police suspect both crews had not "exercised the care required of them by law," but he did not offer details.

    Salvage crews were raising the Lamma IV, which sank after colliding with a ferry Monday as it carried partygoers to a fireworks show celebrating China's national day.

    Hong Kong police have arrested six crew members after  a company boat and a ferry carrying more than 120 collided in what is being called Hong Kong's worst maritime disaster in more than 40 years. NBC's Ian Williams reports.  



    More than 100 people from the party boat were rescued and sent to hospitals. The ferry was damaged but completed its journey, and some of its passengers were treated for injuries.

    The ferry collided with a boat owned by utility company Power Assets Holdings Ltd., which was taking its workers and their families to famed Victoria Harbor to watch a fireworks display in celebration of the national day and mid-autumn festival.

    PhotoBlog: Mourning begins as bodies are recovered from ferry crash

    Police are interviewing survivors to determine if others were still missing following the accident. Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has ordered a full investigation into the crash, the worst maritime accident in the territory's waters in 40 years.

    Lueng rejected suggestions that Hong Kong needed to overhaul rules governing its busy sea lanes, the South China Morning Post reported.

    "This is definitely an isolated incident. The marine territory of Hong Kong is safe," he said.

    Dozens gathered at Kwai Chung Public Mortuary on Tuesday looking for relatives, the Post reported.

    There was no immediate word about how Monday night's collision occurred on the tightly regulated waterways of one of Asia's safest places, although it appeared human error was involved. The evening was clear and both vessels should have been illuminated by running lights when they crashed near Lamma Island off the southwestern coast of Hong Kong island.

    Vincent Yu / AP

    Relatives of the victims throw paper money Tuesday as they pay tribute to the ill-fated people aboard a boat that sank Monday night near Lamma Island, off the southwestern coast of Hong Kong Island.

    Witnesses Sarah Blackman told the BBC she was on board one of the boats involved.

    "I was on the top deck of the ferry and felt the impact — it threw people off their seats. The sound the collision made was horrific," she told the BBC.

    "Our ferry cut its engines and a crew member checked if passengers had sustained injuries from the impact. Our engines went back on, and a couple of other passengers and I went back to the rear of our ferry to look for the other boat that was now behind us, and that is when we saw it sinking in the water. As far as I'm aware, no lifeboats were on board — just life buoys and life jackets," she added.

    Six crew members have been arrested after a boat and a ferry collided in Hong Kong killing at least 37-people as they headed to a holiday fireworks display. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.

    Survivors told local television stations that the power company boat started sinking rapidly after the 8:23 p.m. (8:23 a.m. ET) collision. One woman said she swallowed a lot of water as she swam back to shore.

    A man said he had been on board with his children and didn't know where they were. Neither gave their names.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • At least 30 children among 61 dead after migrant boat sinks off Turkey

    AP Photo / Hurriyet

    Coast guards search for survivors after dozens of illegal immigrants drowned when a fishing boat carrying them sank off the coast near the Aegean city of Izmir, Turkey, on Thursday.

    By Reuters

    Updated at 6:55 p.m. ET:

    AHMETBEYLI, Turkey - At least 61 migrants including Palestinians and Syrians, more than half of them children, died after their overcrowded boat sank just off Turkey's western Aegean coast on Thursday, officials said.

    Tahsin Kurtbeyoglu, governor of the coastal district of Menderes in Izmir province, told Reuters an initial investigation showed the small vessel sank around dawn due to overcrowding.

    Evren Atalay / Anadolu Agency via EPA

    Coast guards carry survivors of a boat carrying migrants that sunk off the coast of Turkey.

    Its destination was unclear but the small Turkish town of Ahmetbeyli from where it set out is only a few kilometers from the Greek island of Samos. Greece is a common entry point for migrants trying to get into the European Union.

     

    "The total death toll is 61, including 12 men, 18 women, 28 children and three babies," the governor's office in Izmir said in a statement.

    Turkish media said the reason the death toll was so high was because the women and children were in a locked compartment in the lower section of the vessel, although there was no official confirmation of this. 


    Photos: Survivors of asylum boat reach safety in Indonesia

     Kurtbeyoglu said 46 people had so far been rescued alive, including the ship's Turkish captain and assistant, who had been placed under arrest. He said there were no bodies left on the boat and he did not expect the death toll to rise any further.

    The Izmir governor's office said the survivors were Palestinian and Syrian nationals and that they had been taken to Ahmetbeyli for health checks. Two people were admitted to hospital.

    Turkish media said there were also Iraqis on the boat, although that could not be confirmed.

    Turkey's position as a bridge from Asia to Europe, as well as its wealth compared with neighboring states, has long made it both a destination and a transit point for migrants from the Middle East and as far afield as Africa and South Asia.

    Its location also means it is a major destination for human trafficking, according to the International Organization for Migration, which helps governments to combat illegal migration.  

    Syrians among the migrants
    A record 1,500 migrants, mostly from Africa, died trying to reach European shores last year with uprisings in Tunisia and Libya adding to the numbers, according to the United Nations.

    Chaos in Syria has prompted more to flee.

    More than 200,000 Syrians have crossed into Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and especially Turkey since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted more than 17 months ago.

    From there, a determined and usually richer few press on to European Union borders, mainly into Greece, with most hoping for asylum further north.

    Turkey is sheltering about 80,000 Syrian refugees near its southeastern border with Syria. 

    Reports: Somali Olympic sprinter died when migrant boat sank

     Multeci-Der, a Turkish refugee rights group based in Izmir, said Syrians made up a growing portion of illegal migrants being caught in recent weeks in Greece after fleeing from Turkey.

    "Asylum procedures must be fair, work quickly and be accessible to people. As long as this is not achieved, those people seeking asylum have no other choice than to be at the mercy of people smugglers," it said in a statement.

    Television footage showed small boats and diving teams searching for survivors just off Ahmetbeyli. The boat sank less than 110 yards from the shore after leaving at around 5:30 a.m., officials said.

    The Greek island of Samos is clearly visible from Ahmetbeyli, which lies in a popular coastal region frequented by foreign and Turkish tourists.

    More news from around the world on NBCNews.com

    About 130,000 immigrants cross Greece's sea and land borders every year, the vast majority via Turkey.

    Greece received more than 1,000 migrants by sea last year, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Another 55,000 crossed the land border between Greece and Turkey at Evros, according to Greek government figures.

    Greece opened a purpose-built detention center for illegal migrants in April, the first of about 50 camps that Greek officials have said will be completed by mid-2013.

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  • Reports: Somali Olympic sprinter died when migrant boat sank

    Kerim Okten/ EPA file

    Somalian athlete Samia Yusuf Omar at at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

    By Ian Johnston, NBC News

    A woman from war-torn Somalia who rose to fame by running in the 200 meters at the Beijing Olympics drowned while trying to reach Europe ahead of the London 2012 Games, it has emerged.

    Samia Yusuf Omar died when a boat carrying migrants from Libya to Italy sank in April, according to a report in Italian by the Pubblico blog and other Italian media.

    The BBC said the Italian media reports suggest Omar may have been hoping to find a coach in Europe who could help her reach the London Olympics.

    Somali track and field legend Abdi Bile, who was world champion in the 1500 meters in 1987, was quoted as comparing Omar’s fate with that of Somali-born British runner Mo Farah, who won two Olympic gold medals at the London Games.


    "We are happy for Mo -- he is our pride," he said, according to Pubblico. "But we will not forget Samia."

    There were few details about what happened to Omar, but BBC News said Somalia’s National Olympic Committee had confirmed she had died. NBC News was unable to reach the committee on the phone number listed on its website and an email was not immediately returned.

    Italy's Coast Guard rescues 80 migrants from an overcrowded boat stranded just off the coast of the southern island of Lampedusa. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    There were tributes to Omar from across the world on the comments section of a YouTube video of her race in Beijing.

    “Love, hope and peace from Barcelona Samia. Your still alive in ours hearts. RIP,” one user, frankiee78, said.

    Somali Olympic chief killed in Mogadishu suicide blast

    “Brave is the one who never give up ... Even being the last one on this heat, Samia was proud of being there for her country. Every time when a shooting star will shows in a Somalian sky, it will be Samia the one who is going to be running for her country.... RIP from Columbus, OH,” MrEmilito74 said.

    There were messages from people in the United States, Serbia, Mexico, Portugal, Uruguay and other countries.

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  • Up to 100 Afghans who hoped for a new life in Australia feared drowned

    Scott Fisher / Getty Images

    People rescued after their boat capsized north of Australia arrive at Christmas Island Friday.

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    Officials in Australia said 109 people had been rescued after a boat carrying refugees apparently fleeing life in Afghanistan capsized more than 120 miles north of Christmas Island, but warned it was looking "increasingly grim" for up to 100 other people still in the water.

    Merchant and navy ships and five aircraft were involved in the search for survivors a day after a crowded boat turned over far from land in the Indian Ocean. A 13-year-old boy was among those rescued.

    However planes flying over the area spotted a number of bodies in the water.

    Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare told Sky News Australia that people "should brace for more bad news" on the number of dead, The Australian newspaper reported.

    "No good news... I can't report that (surveillance aircraft) have seen people alive in the water at this point in time," Clare added. "This is looking increasingly grim by the hour,'' he told Macquarie Radio.

    He said the ocean was "pretty rough," but added "we are still in that critical window" for the rescue operation, The Australian said.

    Clare said everyone on board the boat appeared to be from Afghanistan.

    Authorities in Australia believe the boat started its journey in Indonesia, not Sri Lanka, as initially suggested by some in Indonesia, The Australian reported.

    Prime Minister Julia Gillard, attending the United Nations Rio summit in Brazil, told reporters that "details are sketchy, but what is apparent is that there has been a large loss of life at sea."

    'Perilous journeys'
    Sky News Australia reported that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees had called on Australia to find safer ways for asylum seekers to seek protection.

    The UNHCR said the boat's capsizing "reinforces the need for renewed international solidarity and cooperation to find protection options for people that would help to reduce the need for these perilous journeys by boat."


    "UNHCR calls on Australia and countries in the region to redouble their efforts to provide safer and more secure options for people to find protection other than through these dangerous and exploitative boat journeys," it added in a statement.

    Fears for 200 refugees as boat capsizes north of Australia

    Refugees are a hot political issue in Australia. So far this year, more than 50 boats carrying more than 4,000 people have been detected by Australian authorities.

    Refugees seeking asylum in Australia often set sail from Indonesia heading for Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island in dangerous and overcrowded boats, with the help of people smugglers.

    In December 2011, up to 200 died when an overcrowded boat sank off the coast of East Java.

    In 2010, 50 asylum seekers died when their boat was thrown onto rocks at Christmas Island. In 2001, a crowded boat known as the SIEV X sank on its way to Australia with the loss of 350 lives.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Fears for 200 refugees as boat capsizes north of Australia

    Reuters TV

    Survivors from a boat that capsized in Indonesian waters lie on stretchers on the jetty at Christmas Island in this still image taken from video on Friday.

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    A boat carrying about 200 refugees capsized in Indonesian waters 120 nautical miles north of Australia's Christmas Island and many are feared drowned, authorities said Thursday.

    Western Australia police commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said a ''large number'' of the people on the boat were feared dead, The Australian newspaper reported.

    ''There were about 200 refugees on board we think. Currently there's about 40 on the hull and the rest are in the water,'' O'Callaghan told the paper.


    ''Some of the very early reports suggest that up to 75 people may have drowned, but I do stress that they are unconfirmed at this stage,'' he added.

    The Australian cited an Indonesian official as saying 100 people from Sri Lanka were reportedly on board the ship.

    People-smugglers?
    An Australian customs spokesman said border protection had detected what was believed to be a people-smuggling boat in distress earlier on Thursday.

    "Indonesian navy ships are on their way there now," Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) spokesman Gagah Prakoso told Reuters.

    The sinking occurred within Indonesia's search and rescue zone and Australian authorities were offering assistance, Australia's Maritime Safety Authority said.

    Refugees seeking asylum in Australia often set sail from Indonesia heading for Christmas Island in dangerous and overcrowded boats.

    As many as 200 died when an overcrowded boat sank off the coast of East Java in December, 2011. Fifty asylum seekers travelling from Indonesia to Christmas Island died when a storm dashed their boat onto rocks in December 2010. In 2001, a crowded boat known as the SIEV X sank on its way to Australia with the loss of 350 lives.

     Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island, south of Indonesia, is a popular destination for asylum seekers, who travel by often crowded boats from Indonesia, with the help of people smugglers.

    So far this year, more than 50 boats carrying a total of more than 4,000 asylum seekers have been detected by Australian authorities. 

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Chinese fishermen held by North Korea released but questions linger

    Ahn Young-Joon/AP

    Three Chinese fishing ships that were hijacked by North Koreans on May 8th in the Yellow Sea were returned to China with their crews on Monday.

    By Ed Flanagan, NBC News

    BEIJING – All 29 Chinese fishermen held for almost two weeks by a North Korean crew were released and returned home on Monday, ending a hostage crisis that had outraged many in China and strained relations between the normally close friends.

    China's state-run Xinhua News quoted an official at the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang as saying that they had been informed that the three fishing vessels detained by the North Korean coast guard on May 8 were on their way back to China.

    The sailors were in good health "with sufficient food and healthcare" after 13 days in North Korean waters, Xinhua quoted the official as saying.

    The official's statement runs counter to reports by owners of two of the ships captured in the Yellow Sea who said that the crews had been given little to eat and had very little rest since the boats were taken.

    The incident came as a surprise because China is North Korea's closest ally, and most important source of food aid and gasoline despite international sanctions meant to punish the country for its nuclear program and rocket launches.

    Chinese netizens abuzz over reported boat hijackings by N. Korea

    Questions shrouded the affair even as the sailors were set free.

    Xinhua and other state media did not report whether a ransom had been paid, although it was earlier reported that the captors had demanded 900,000 yuan ($140,000) in exchange for the release of the vessels and their crew.

    It also was not clear whether the North Koreans involved in the kidnapping and reported ransom negotiations were working on behalf of the North Korean government or alone.

    Fishermen who operate in the waters where the boats were taken told the Chinese newspaper Global Times about previous incidents.

    "The North Korean coast guards took almost everything, even pencils and clothes,” the newspaper quoted one fishermen as saying about a previous robbery. “They also pumped the fuel out of seized boats, leaving just enough for the journey home."

    Even as it tried to cover the day’s news, the Global Times appeared to contradict its own reports.

    While a news story reported that the latest kidnapping wasn’t the first incident involving North Korea’s coast guard, a Monday editorial in the same paper refuted the fisherman’s story.

    "Currently there are rumors about misbehavior from North Koreans in the border areas between the two countries [and that] China does not seem to be taking a tough attitude toward them," the editorial stated. “Both should take effective measures to eliminate such rumors.”

    Are China & North Korea happier than America?

    But, right after news of this most recent incident broke in early May, Chinese officials ordered hundreds of fishing boats in the area to restrict their operations to 50 miles within China’s territorial waters. 

    While the recent hijacking prompted an outraged response online and in China’s highly-controlled state media, on Monday journalists seemed to have reverted to a friendlier attitude, working overtime to dampen anger they had generated and fueled.

    For example, the same Global Times editorial urged China to work on improving relations between China and North Korea.

    "The case should be a turning point for China in its handling of border disputes between China and North Korea,” the editorial said optimistically. “China and North Korea have a solid geographic basis for their friendship [and] both attach strategic importance to this friendship.”

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  • Chinese netizens abuzz over reported boat hijackings by N. Korea

    David Gray / Reuters

    A paramilitary policeman holds up his hand as he stands guard outside the main entrance to the North Korean embassy in central Beijing on Thursday. North Koreans holding three Chinese fishing boats and 29 sailors have demanded payment before they will release them, Chinese media reported on Thursday.

    By Ed Flanagan, NBC News

    BEIJING – In what appears to be a rare public spat between longtime neighbors and allies, 29 Chinese sailors have been kidnapped in the Yellow Sea by North Koreans, according to Chinese media reports.

    Three Chinese fishing ships were operating in waters between North Korea and China on May 8 when they were boarded, 29 crew members taken hostage and the vessels hijacked, the reports said late Wednesday. 

    The vessels reportedly were then taken to North Korean waters where they have remained since. One fisherman was said to have escaped.  

    One of the ships’ owners, Sun Caihui, said that the hijackers’ ship was a North Korean naval vessel and that some of the men were wearing uniforms of the Korean People’s Navy, according to a report on Netease, a popular Chinese web portal.  

     

    How Sun was able to determine whether the hijackers’ ship was a North Korean military vessel, much less whether the kidnappers were working on behalf of the North Korean government or were pirates working independently, remains unclear.  

    Immediately after the incident, the hijackers allegedly asked one of the Chinese captains to call Sun to tell him that the hijackers were demanding 1.2 million yuan ($190,000) in ransom for the three ships captured. Sun said he has not been in contact with his crew since that call, but new reports late Thursday suggested that the kidnappers are now seeking around 900,000 yuan ($140,000) for their release.

    North Korea’s government has not made any public comment on the case. Likewise, China’s government would not publicly confirm any details about the reported incident. 

    China is North Korea’s key international ally, with Beijing having been Pyongyang’s main supplier of food aid and oil despite strict international sanctions over the reclusive country’s nuclear ambitions and rocket launches. 

    "China is maintaining close contact with North Korea through the relevant channels and we hope this problem will be appropriately solved as soon as possible," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily briefing. 

    "We have also stated to North Korea that it should ensure the legitimate rights of Chinese ship personnel."

    The owner of another ship involved, named Zhang Dechang, said that during a talk with his ship’s captain on May 9, he was assured that no direct threats had been made against the sailors themselves. However, in an article Thursday in the Chinese newspaper Global Times Zhang said he had received a call from the hijackers on Tuesday threatening to “dispose” of the ships and the fishermen if the ransom was not paid by May 17.

    Conditions on the boats are said to be cramped and the fishermen reportedly have not been well looked after. Both Zhang and Sun said their ship captains have told him that they don’t have much to eat and that they’ve had little rest.

    Sun said the incident has brought feelings of anger and helplessness. “Relatives of the sailors – parents, children, wives – came to us for their men, weeping,” he said, “We could do nothing.”  

    Anger among Chinese 
    The incident has raised the ire of China’s netizens, who have wondered why it has taken so long for news of the alleged hijacking to be released and why Beijing has reacted so gently on this matter. 

    On China’s Twitter-like service, Weibo, the issue was the top trending topic Thursday. “Has North Korea forgotten how China aided North Korea in the Korean War?” wrote one user. “Why are our fishermen always being arrested by foreigners, our waters always occupied by other countries? Don’t bully us, OK?” 

    Others Weibo users were more belligerent. “If they dare to execute hostages, we should immediately destroy them!” declared another. 

    In general, there appears to be a growing public frustration in China over the government’s seeming desire to not react to the incidents aggressively, perhaps best summed up by one Weibo user who wrote: “I wish the Chinese government could be stronger and stop chanting slogans like ‘harmony’ and ‘peace.’” 

    NBC News’ Horace Lu contributed to this report. 

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  • Fishing trawler runs aground off Cape Town beach

    Schalk Van Zuydam / AP

    Rescue workers help a crew member from a stranded trawler into a rescue boat.

    A 50-meter (164-foot) Japanese trawler with 28 fishermen ran aground off a popular beach in Cape Town, South Africa, May 12. Craig Lambinon, spokesman for the National Sea Rescue Institute, said thick fog may have contributed to the accident early Saturday at First Beach in Cape Town's upscale Clifton area. Rescuers evacuated 19 of the 28 crew aboard and are hoping to refloat the vessel at high tide.

    Mike Hutchings / Reuters

    Onlookers walk past the stranded fishing trawler.

     

  • French yacht sinks off the coast of Greek islands, all aboard survive

    Hellenic Air Force / EPA

    An aerial view taken from a Greek military Super Puma all-weather helicopter shows a 60-meter-long yacht running adrift after taking in water in the sea area between the islands of Skyros and Psarra, central Aegean Sea, Greece on Feb. 17. All passengers and crew, eight French nationals, were airlifted from the distressed yacht and are all safe.

    Hellenic Air Force / EPA

    A handout picture provided by the Hellenic Air Force taken from a military Super Puma all-weather helicopter shows a 60-meter long yacht running adrift after taking on water between the islands of Skyros and Psarra, central Aegean Sea, Greece on Feb. 17. All the passengers and crew, eight French nationals, were airlifted from the distressed yacht and are all safe.

    By Natalia Jimenez, NBC News

    A luxury yacht cruising the Aegean sea sank off the coast of Greece. According to Turkey's Daily News, the yacht "suffered mechanical failure in gale-force winds," and began to take in water. The eight French passengers and crew aboard were rescued after the captain sent out a distress signal.

    The scene is reminiscent of the luxury cruise Costa Concordia, which hit a reef off the coast of Italy's Giglio island on Jan. 13 when the captain brought the ship too close to shore. It killed 17 people, and 16 people remain missing and are presumed dead.

    Related content:

  • Crew fled with life vests as packed Indonesian boat sank

    Juni Kriswanto / AFP - Getty Images

    A police officer carries a young survivor to an immigration office in Watulimo, Indonesia, on Dec. 18, 2011. More than 200 people were feared dead after a heavily overloaded boat packed mostly with Afghan and Iranian asylum-seekers sank off Indonesia en route to Australia.

    Reuters reports:

    The crew and captain of an Indonesian boat packed with illegal immigrants grabbed life vests and swam away as it sank during a heavy storm, leaving more than 200 passengers missing, Australian media reported on Monday.

    Surviving asylum seekers said terrified passengers on the boat that was heading for Australia were left to drown as it broke apart in stormy seas about 55 miles off the coast of Java, Indonesia.

    "The captain and six crew took the life vests and started swimming away," Pakistani Saed Mohammad Zia, 18, told the Daily Telegraph.

    Juni Kriswanto / AFP - Getty Images

    Members of a search and rescue team continue to look for victims of the sinking in Watulimo on Dec. 19, 2011.

    "They were all from Indonesia. We lost sight of them in the big waves and we never saw them again. We don't know if they were rescued."

    The number of survivors, missing and those feared dead is still not clear, authorities said of the latest of such disasters in recent years for immigrants travelling via Indonesia in search of a better life in Australia.

    Many of the passengers on the wooden vessel, which sank on Saturday, are believed to be economic migrants from countries including Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Those that survived suffered severe dehydration and exhaustion after struggling to stay afloat in the rough seas, some clinging to wreckage for five hours.

    "We were just praying to God that someone would help us. We thought it was the last of our life story," said Esmat Adine, 24, from Afghanistan.

    "People were dying in front of us. The bodies were lying in front of us in the water, women and children mostly," he told the Daily Telegraph. Read the full story.

    Ulet Ifansasti / Getty Images

    An asylum seeker who survived crys during an interviewe in Blitar, East Java, on Dec. 19, 2011.

    Ulet Ifansasti / Getty Images

    A survivor receiving treatment on Dec. 19, 2011 in Blitar, East Java. The tragedy is expected to further inflame the debate in Australia as how best to handle the influx of asylum seekers.