The Foreign Ministry on Monday confirmed that no Chinese people had died in a ship collision involving illegal Chinese immigrants off the coast of Nicaragua.

The Chinese Embassy in Mexico said that it had heard from the Nicaraguan authorities that no Chinese had been killed in the ship collision, said a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry website.

A ship carrying dozens of illegal Chinese immigrants collided with another vessel near Nicaragua on May 25.

A total of 38 illegal Chinese immigrants on the ship, who were detained in Managua, capital of Nicaragua, are now in good conditions, the statement said, adding that the officials from the Chinese Embassy in Mexico had visited them.

As China and Nicaragua have no diplomatic relations, the Chinese Embassy in Mexico has been working with the Nicaraguan side to properly resolve the issue, the statement said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2007)