HARBIN - Passengers on a Russian ship that lost power in a border river were rescued by Chinese rescuers on Saturday, border control authorities said.

A border control station in Heilongjiang province received a call Saturday morning that a Russian ship with 45 passengers on board was stranded in a river and risked sinking because of wind and waves.

The station then sent a rescue ship with 10 rescuers.

The Chinese rescuers spent about two hours transferring passengers to the rescue ship, border control authorities said.