One fisherman died and five others were rescued after a fire on a fishing vessel off the coast of southern China's island province Hainan on Monday.

Maritime police received a report around 6:00 a.m. of a fire engulfing a 30-tonne wooden fishing vessel six nautical miles off the coast of Wenchang in northeastern Hainan.

One fisherman was reportedly trapped in the engine cabin and the rest five abandoned the vessel to jump into the sea.

Maritime police arrived at the scene at about 7:15 a.m. Most of the boat was burnt down, and it sank later. By 4:30 p.m., the maritime police rescued five and recovered one body.

The fishermen were allegedly engaged in illegal fishing as their boat was not registered with local fishery authorities, said the Wenchang Oceanic and Fishery Department.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.