58 crew members of sinking S. Korean navy ship rescued

SEOUL, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Fifty-eight crew members of just- sinking South Korean navy ship were rescued till 00:30 a.m. (1530 GMT Friday), as rescue operation is still underway, according to local media.

This undated picture shows South Korea's Cheonan naval ship in South  Korea, Friday, March 26, 2010. South Korea's military scrambled  Cheonan naval vessels to the western waters near the disputed maritime  border with North Korea late Friday after an explosion ripped a hole in the bottom of a military ship, officials and news reports said.  (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

A South Korean naval vessel with 104 crew members onboard is sinking into waters off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula late Friday, possibly due to attacks from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), local media reported, citing naval officials.

The 1,500-ton ship sank near the South Korean island of Baekryeongdo near the contentious sea border called Northern Limit Line (NLL), where the two Koreas had naval skirmishes before, and another South Korean naval vessel fired at an unspecified target toward the north in response, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.