KIEV - A search and rescue operation was underway on Sunday after a border patrol boat with a crew of seven sank off Ukraine 's port city of Mariupol following an explosion, border guard authorities said.
Mariupol is on the edge of the conflict between government forces and Russian-backed separatists and has been under threat from rebel attacks for months.
But the border guard authorities said the cause of the explosion that caused the boat to go down in the Sea of Azov was not immediately clear.
"Today at 14.20 hrs a patrol boat exploded as it came out of its mooring station in Mariupol," the state border guard said in a statement. The reason for the explosion had not yet been established.
"There were seven service staff on board. It is known that as a result of the explosion two border guard staff were injured. The condition of the others is being ascertained," it said, adding a rescue operation was underway.
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The boat had suffered substantial damage, it said.
