BUCHAREST: Two crew members died and 11 were rescued after a fire broke out on a ship in the Black Sea which later sank, Romania's interior ministry announced Monday (Oct 5), without specifying what caused the blaze.

"At around 11.00, Coast Guard border police officers were informed that a fire had broken out on board a commercial vessel located within Romania's exclusive economic zone, approximately 30 nautical miles south of Sfantu Gheorghe," it said in a statement, referring to a fishing village on country's the Black Sea coast.

"Eleven crew members have been rescued. Two deceased persons have also been identified," it added.

Asked by AFP if the vessel was possibly hit by a drone, the defence ministry did not reply.

Drone activity has become increasingly frequent in recent months across eastern European countries as Ukraine, which borders Romania, fights off a Russian invasion launched in 2022, with both countries increasingly relying on drone warfare.

Romanian authorities said that the ship later sank.

The injured were rescued from the ship by a helicopter.