Two fishermen died and four others went missing Tuesday after a fishing vessel caught fire off South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, the safety ministry said.
   
The fire on the Munseong 103 occurred around 5:13 a.m. some 5 nautical miles northeast of the Dokdo islets, the Ministry of Public Safety and Security said.
   
Six crewmen, including the captain, were rescued, but two of them died soon after, said Munseong Fisheries Co., the owner of the ship, citing the Korean Coast Guard. The remaining four -- two Koreans and as many Vietnamese -- were listed as missing.
   
Coast Guard vessels, aircrafts and private fishing boats were searching for the missing four.
  
A total of eight South Koreans and two Vietnamese were aboard the 29-ton ship, Munseong Fisheries said.
   
The fire is believed to have started in the engine room, though the cause of the blaze is still under investigation, a Coast Guard official said.
  
The Munseong 103 was fishing fugu, an Asian delicacy, near Dokdo just before the accident. It had embarked from the southernmost island of Jeju on Dec. 16 and had been scheduled to return to a port in North Gyeongsang Province on Jan. 2.
   
Some of the crewmen's family members were rushing to the accident zone in the East Sea, upon hearing the news, Munseong Fisheries said. (Yonhap)