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Six missing after SoKor fishing boat capsizes

Agence France-Presse · Mar 9, 2024, 2:54 PM

This handout photo taken on November 19, 2019 and provided by Korea Coast Guard shows South Korean rescue members (top) searching for missing people near a fishing boat after it caught fire in waters west off South Korea's southern island of Jeju. One fisherman was killed and 11 others reported missing after their boat caught fire off South Korea's southern coast, authorities said on November 19. Local authorities said 12 crew members had been on board — six South Koreans and six Vietnamese nationals. handout — 📷 KOREA COAST GUARD / AFP

A South Korean fishing boat carrying nine crew, including seven Indonesians, capsized off the country's southern coast on Saturday, leaving six missing, local authorities said.

The 29-ton vessel overturned in waters 68 kilometres (42 miles) south of an island in the coastal city of Tongyeong on early Saturday 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 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 Thursday morning, 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.