(Corrects day of collision in paragraph 1 to Saturday from Sunday)

SEOUL, May 13 (Reuters) - A South Korean freight ship sank off China's east coast after colliding with a Chinese vessel on Saturday and 16 sailors are missing, a South Korea Coast Guard official said.

Seven South Korean sailors and nine foreigners, including eight Myanmarese and an Indonesian, disappeared after the two ships collided on the Yellow Sea near China's coastal city of Dalian around 3 a.m. (1900 GMT) in thick fog, the official said.

"Chinese authorities are searching for the missing crew but we have not heard they found any of them yet," the official told Reuters by telephone, asking not to be identified.

The South Korean ship carried 5,900 tonnes of steel, he added.

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