Six missing after South Korean fishing boat capsizes
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Rescue operations were under way after a fishing boat capsized. The three crew members who were rescued were unconscious.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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SEOUL – A South Korean fishing boat carrying nine crew members, including seven Indonesians, capsized off South Korea’s southern coast on March 9, leaving six missing, the local authorities said.
The 29-ton vessel overturned in waters 68km south of an island of the coastal city of Tongyeong early in the morning, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
So far, three crew members have been rescued but all were unconscious, the Korea Coast Guard’s Tongyeong office told AFP.
“We are still looking for six missing individuals,” official Lee Ho-jun said.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the relevant authorities to “do their best to save lives by mobilising all available personnel and equipment, including navy and fishing boats”, his office said in a statement.
The boat that capsized had set sail from the country’s southernmost island of Jeju on the morning of March 7, and was engaged in fishing, Yonhap said.
The news agency said patrol boats, navy vessels, and aircraft have been deployed for the ongoing search efforts. AFP
