A fishing boat crewed by 14 people sank off the southern coastal city of Yeosu, some 320 kilometers south of Seoul, in the early hours of Sunday, leaving at least three dead.
The Yeosu branch of the Korea Coast Guard is currently searching for six crew members of the 239-ton trawler Seogyeong who remain unaccounted for. The search is focused within a five-kilometer radius of where the boat is believed to have sunk, 17 kilometers east of Habaekdo Island. Officials found seven crew members shortly after the accident. Three of the crew members including the captain, died when rescue workers were unable to resuscitate them. All three were Korean nationals.
A civilian fishing boat picked up another crew member in the morning, floating unconscious near the site of the sinking. Press was unable to determine the exact condition of the crew member as of 9:30 a.m.
The four crew members who were rescued -- two Indonesian and two Vietnamese nationals -- are being transferred to Chukjeong Port on nearby Narodo Island of Goheung-gun. They suffered hypothermia but were reported as not having sustained life-threatening injuries.
Some of the six crew members who remain missing, are believed to have been inside the sunken vessel at the time of the accident, according to testimonies from the surviving crew.
The coast guard deployed divers to search for the survivors, while mobilizing 19 vessels of the coast guard, three ships of related government organizations, and four aircrafts.
Seogyeong disappeared off the radar at around 1:41 a.m., according to the boat's operators, and was said by the survivors to have capsized due to bad weather.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has set up a response headquarters in cooperation with the provincial government of South Jeolla Province and the city government of Yeosu, to organize the search and rescue operation and provide support for those affected by the accident.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
