Fuel from a ship, which collided with the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, Jiangsu Province early Sunday, has begun leaking from the stricken vessel but it has not polluted the water, local authorities said Monday.Â
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The ship, Xinchuan 8, was en route from Tongling, Anhui Province to Luoyuan, Fujian Province, laden with 12,500 tons of limestone when it collided with a bridge pier at 4:20 am Sunday. The damage caused the vessel to take on water, according to a report sent by Nanjing Maritime Safety Administration (NMSA) to the Global Times on Monday.Â
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All 18 crew members were rescued by local patrol ships at 4:55 am, just five minutes before the ship sank about 3.5 kilometers downstream from the bridge, the report said.Â
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"No one was seriously injured and none were hospitalized," a staffer surnamed Dai from the NMSA information office told the Global Times. Â