DA NANG CITY, Vietnam, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Three dead bodies of Vietnamese fishermen and 77 alive ones stepped ashore here Thursday morning since being hit by Typhoon Chanchu on May 16.

    "The terrible typhoon hit us on May 16 night and lasted for 24 hours. The ship's engine failed, so all of us think that we were dying. We turned our face upward and looked at giant waves over 20 meters above our head," a fisherman on the ship coded DNA90334 with 23 people on board told Xinhua after it was pulled ashore in Vietnam's central Da Nang city by a Vietnamese navy ship.

    The 38-year-old fisherman named Nguyen Quang Binh from central Hue city said while the ship was freely swept away by waves, it met with a Chinese rescue ship on May 22 morning. "The Chinese ship gave us two barrels of diesel oil. Each barrel contains 200 liters."

    The ship was tugged by a fellow fishing ship and then by the navy ship, he said, noting that another ship, which ran out of fuel and had its engine damaged by the typhoon was pulled ashore in the same way.

    "Near the Dongsha Islands, the Vietnamese fishing fleet included 32 cuttlefish-catching ships and 10 tuna-catching ships. After the killer typhoon, we saw eight ships sank, one thrown to an island by giant waves. Five tuna-catching ships went missing," Binh said with a long sigh of sorrow, noting that each cuttlefish-catching ship has 23-25 people, and each tuna-catching ship employs 7-10 fishermen.

    "All the lucky ships have returned or been on the way home in Da Nang and other neighbor provinces such as Quang Ngai, Quang Namand Binh Dinh. Our ship is the last from the fleet to go home," he noted.

    On Thursday morning, a total of three fishing ships with a total of 77 alive people arrived in Da Nang. Meanwhile, the navy ship carried three dead bodies of local fishermen found by their fellows in the Dongsha Islands.

    Pham Phu Mot, a 50-year-old fisherman from on the ship coded DNA90370, which sailed ashore itself before the ship DNA90334, told Xinhua that his ship with 26 people on board ran out of fuel and then was given oil by a Vietnamese navy ship. "After we were stricken by the typhoon, a Taiwanese canoe approached us. It used flags to signal us to go away," the man said, embracing two of his young sons, who served as the ship's fisherman and went on board as a visitor, respectively.

    Dang Ngoc Hoan, a 20-year-old man on the other ship tugged ashore, said the engine of his ship, with 28 people on board, failed to work due to the typhoon. "After the typhoon, I saw two Taiwanese canoes going around and around to take photos and video tape. I think our ship had taken shelter near a Taiwanese military base," he added.

    After the three fishing ship arrived at the port, the navy ship coded QN 28 followed. Local sailors and rescuers carried ashore three dead bodies covered with red cloth. One of the bodies was stuck with a piece of paper which identified the victim as Ngoc Son.

    On Wednesday, Nguyen Van Cu, deputy head of the Da Nang-based Border Post No. 248 told Xinhua that a navy ship carrying three dead bodies of local fishermen and 19 fishing ships with a total of some 460 people on board were expected to go ashore on Thursday. Two Vietnamese rescue ships brought ashore 15 bodies and 33 alive fishermen on Tuesday.

    "According to our sources, a total of 29 ships from Da Nang went to the far sea to catch cuttlefish. After being hit by Typhoon Chanchu in Chinese waters, seven ships sank, and three others went missing. Over 200 people have either died or gone missing. The chance for their survival is slim," he 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