Typhoon Chanchu killed at least 37 Vietnamese fishermen in the South China Sea but Chinese rescue ships have saved 330 sailors, state media in the communist countries reported Sunday.
The Chinese vessels had picked up the crews of 22 ships, giving them water, food and fuel, and salvaged 21 bodies in "the largest international rescue operation at sea ever conducted by China," Chinese reports said.
In Vietnam's central city of Danang, the port where many of the ships came from, anguished relatives crowded outside state offices for news on the more than 230 sailors listed as missing.
"We still don't know who survived," Le Minh A, deputy chairman of the Quang Nam province people's committee, told an emergency meeting. "Local people are in real panic."
Deputy Fisheries Minister Nguyen Viet Thang said: "This is a big loss for the fishermen, and for Vietnam's fishing industry. We are making the greatest efforts to deal with the dead and the survivors."
Two Vietnamese naval vessels left Danang Sunday to meet storm-battered fishing vessels limping back toward the coast, carrying survivors and at least 18 bodies.
Police would take photographs and DNA samples before releasing the bodies to relatives, said officials.