A seafarer has died in horrific circumstances after a fall from a tanker off Taiwan.

The 31-year-old man from Myanmar was pulled from the water off Kaohsiung with both his arms missing, the CNA news agency reported.

It is thought the crewman's limbs were ripped off by the rope ladder he was descending when he lost balance on the 5,000-dwt Hong Ching (built 1992) on Saturday.