The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Two bodies recovered from capsized fishing boat

By Yonhap

Published : March 1, 2018 - 09:33

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WANDO -- Two bodies were recovered Thursday from a fishing boat that capsized off the south coast a day earlier, with five other crew members still unaccounted for.

The 7.93-ton boat was found floating upside down by a passing ship near Wando, South Jeolla Province, Wednesday afternoon. The boat had been out of contact since leaving a port on Wando two days earlier with seven crew members.

On Thursday morning, Coast Guard rescue divers recovered two dead bodies from the boat, one at 7:32 a.m. and the other at 7:49 a.m. One of them was a 56-year-old crew member, identified only by his surname Park, and the other was a 26-year-old Indonesian, identified only by his surname initial D.

(Yonhap) (Yonhap)

The bodies were sent to a hospital on the nearby island of Wando. Officials also notified Indonesia's Embassy of the discovery of the body of its national.

The Coast Guard is searching the area for the five other crew members by mobilizing six planes, 23 Coast Guard boats, five Navy vessels and two civilian boats. Rescue divers are struggling to get into the capsized boat due to bad weather and swirling currents.

Should the situation continue, officials said they would consider towing the boat to a calmer area so that divers can search the boat's interior. (Yonhap)