Rescue Team's Entry to Sanchi Oil Tanker 'Impossible'

The Iranian news agency 'IRNA' reports that due to the intensity of the fire on the Iranian tanker that suffered an accident near the coast of China, the entry of rescue teams to this vessel is impossible. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has promised to continue efforts to find the missing crew members. The Iranian state news agency reported on the morning of January 24 that the temperature of the 'Sanchi' tanker has reached 350 degrees and 'conditions for entry to it are absolutely not available.' It has been stated that the height of the fire now exceeds 100 meters. Two days ago, a team of Iranian commandos was dispatched to the accident site to assist Chinese rescue forces. Yesterday, the Chinese team, one week after the accident and the fire on the Iranian oil tanker, retrieved the bodies of two victims and the black box from it. Following the collision of the Sanchi with a Chinese bulk carrier, 32 crew members of the tanker went missing. 30 of the missing are Iranian and two others are from Bangladesh. Previously, the body of one of the victims had been found. Current reports indicate that there is still no information on the fate of 29 others. The identity of the recovered bodies has not yet been officially confirmed. The Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, reported on Sunday morning that firefighters are 'struggling hard to extinguish the tanker.' China's international television, CGTN, quoted the country's foreign minister on Saturday as saying that Beijing will continue efforts to find the sailors and crew of the 'Sanchi.' Wang Yi has also spoken with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. The Sanchi tanker was carrying 136,000 tons of Iranian gas condensate to South Korea and suffered an accident and fire after colliding with a Chinese bulk carrier 300 kilometers east of China on January 6.