DA NANG CITY, Vietnam, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's rescue ships Tuesday brought ashore 33 exhausted local fishermen who had struggled for a week in Typhoon Chanchu. Another 15 dead bodies were also brought back to land.

    After brought ashore by two rescue ships of Vietnam's Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center Region 2 based in central Da Nang city on Tuesday afternoon, both dead and alive fishermen were taken to the Da Nang General Hospital.

    "Our two rescue ships received 15 dead bodies and 33 exhausted alive fishermen in the sea waters some 320 nautical miles from Da Nang. A navy ship has received three other dead bodies and healthy fishermen. It will go ashore tomorrow (May 24)," the center's vice director Tran Van Long told Xinhua.

    On Tuesday afternoon, Quang Nam, deputy prime minister Pham GiaKhiem, among some other senior officials and thousands of people from Da Nang and its neighboring province, received the fishermen at the Han River's port.

    "Let's share this pain. We've tried our best, although we should draw lessons (from the incidence caused by the typhoon)," Khiem said at the receiving ceremony.

    After the ceremony, local people rushed to the hospital where the exhausted fishermen were given medical care, and the dead bodies were identified and taken home by their relatives.

    "Out of 15 dead bodies, 10 from Quang Nam and three from Da Nang have been recognized. Only two have remained unrecognized. We will resort to DNA tests to identify them. The alive fishermen arejust tired, not injured," the hospital's vice director Tran Quang Hieu told Xinhua.

    As of late Monday, 204 Vietnamese people on 17 fishing ships had gone missing in Typhoon Chanchu, local media quoted sources from Vietnam's National Committee on Search and Rescue. The country will keep on rescue works for at least 10 more days.

    China will continue its efforts in rescuing Vietnamese ships and fishermen affected by Typhoon Chanchu, Chinese ambassador to Vietnam Hu Qianwen said Sunday.

    As of May 20, Chinese forces had rescued a total of 21 Vietnamese fishing ships sailing in the Chinese waters hit by the typhoon, Hu said, noting that they had supplied fuel, drinking water and foodstuffs to 15 Vietnamese ships with 330 fishermen on board. Of the people, 21 have died and six have been injured, the ambassador said.

    Chanchu, which means "pearl," formed in the Pacific, about 550 km east of Mindanao island in the Philippines on May 9. It hit the central Philippines, then headed to central Vietnam, but suddenly changed its direction to southern China, killing dozens of people and affecting thousands of others from the three countries. Enditem