Chinese police confirm 13 sailors dead in ship attack on Mekong River

Chinese police confirmed Sunday that the body of the missing Chinese sailor in the ship attack on the Mekong River has been found. Two Chinese cargo ships, the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, were attacked by unidentified armed people on the Mekong River on Oct. 5. Twelve Chinese sailors were killed. Yang Deyi, captain of the Yu Xing 8, was missing. China's Ministry of Public Security said in a statement Sunday that the finding of Yang's body brought the total number of victims to 13. Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu urged relevant governments to get to the bottom of the attack and catch the assailants as soon as possible. China hopes to establish a cooperation mechanism in navigation law enforcement on the Mekong River with Laos, Myanmar and Thailand to strike cross-border crimes and jointly cope with emergencies, Meng said at a meeting in southwest China's Yunnan Province. The Mekong River, known in China as the Lancang River, rises on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before spilling into the South China Sea. It plays a crucial economic role throughout the Greater Mekong Subregion.