VLADIVOSTOK - Six crewmen were killed and nine were still missing after a Russian fishing vessel sank off the coast of the Russian Far East, the emergency situations ministry said on Monday.

Rescuers found a second lift craft with five people surviving from the sunken vessel on the morning of Monday, the ministry said, adding the bodies of six crewmen were also found.

On Saturday, a lifeboat carrying ten crewmen were discovered by a passing freight ship. They have been taken to the Russian port of Kholmsk for hospitalization.

Nine ships and five airborne vehicles have been deployed to search for the missing crew members.

There were 30 people aboard the fishing vessel, including 19 Russian citizens and 11 Indonesians.