All 57 crew members were rescued early Friday in the Yangtze River after a container carrier collided with a coal ship one day after another shipwreck in China's busiest waterway, local maritime sources said.

The accident occurred almost at the same time and place where 20 seamen fell to water and were rescued Thursday, according to the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration. It was the third such accident over the past several days on the Yangtze River.

"Feiyunhe", the container with 1,100 TEUs sailing from Shanghai to Long Island, United States, suddenly lost control just after midnight Friday and collided with "Zhenfen No. 5" loaded with 19,509 tons of coal.

The water traffic in the Yangtze River was once halted and resumed normal operation three hours later as the two ships blocked the deep-water fairway after the accident.

The cause of the accident is still unknown.

Two Cypriote and Cambodian ships crashed Thursday near a Yangtze River estuary in Shanghai but reported no casualties and all the 20 seamen fallen in the water were rescued.

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2004)