India, May 25 -- A cargo ship sank off the Kerala coast as it tilted further and lost containers into the sea, triggering environmental damage concerns, even as three remaining crew members were rescued. The three had remained onboard the Liberian-flagged MSC Elsa 3 as per instructions from their company.

The authorities earlier rescued 21 out of the 24 crew members on board, including one Russian, 20 Filipinos, two Ukrainians, and one Georgian.

MSC Elsa 3's parent company informed Indian authorities that it was tilting by 26 degrees and sought urgent assistance hours after the 184-metre ship departed for Kochi from Vizhinjam port on Friday.

Coast Guard inspector general (Western region) Bhisham Sharma said they thought the ship would ...