Beijing (CNN) Thirty-two sailors are missing after an oil tanker and freight ship collided off the east coast of China Saturday, according to China's Ministry of Transport.

The missing -- 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshi citizens -- are all crew members from the Panama-registered tanker SANCHI, the ministry said.

The collision took place approximately 160 nautical miles (184 statute miles) east of the mouth of the Yangtze River, at about 8 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET), it said in a statement.

"The accident caused oil tanker 'SANCHI' to catch on fire, tilting to the right, losing contact with the crew," it said.

32 crew members, incl. 30 Iranians & 2 Bengalese, have gone missing after a Panama-registered oil tanker and a Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter collided off China's east coast on Sat evening. Search and rescue are underway pic.twitter.com/o7jDIu9oDb — People's Daily,China (@PDChina) January 7, 2018

All 21 Chinese crew on board the Hong-Kong registered freighter the CF-Crystal were rescued, the ministry said.

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