Ships collide off southern Japan

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The Japanese naval destroyer JS Kurama was still on fire several hours after the collision

A Japanese warship and a South Korean container ship have collided off southern Japan, injuring a navy sailor.

The destroyer Kurama and the Carina Star were both engulfed in flames after the incident in the Kanmon Strait, near the southern main island of Kyushu.

Public broadcaster NHK said none of the South Korean ship's crew members had been injured. It also said the Japanese ship's bow was damaged.

Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said the government had set up an inquiry.

AP news agency says the Kurama was on its way to its home port of Sasebo, on Kyushu, after serving as the flagship for the country's triennial fleet review on Sunday in the port of Yokosuka.