Disasters & Accidents

Nine missing as boat capsizes off South Korean coast

Seoul, Feb 5 (EFE).- Nine people have gone missing after their boat capsized overnight off the southwestern coast of South Korea, the national coast guard said on Sunday.

South Korean maritime authorities received information at 11.19 pm on Saturday that the 24-ton vessel had overturned in waters 16.6 kms (over 10 miles) west of the uninhabited island of Deabichi, which is about 20 kms from the southwestern Sinan county, local news agency Yonhap reported.

Three of the fishermen onboard the boat were rescued by a nearby vessel, while the other nine remain missing and are feared to have been trapped inside the capsized boat, authorities said.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol urged rescue teams to use maximum efforts in looking for the missing.

Yoon ordered the mobilization of all available resources and called for increasing the search area, presidential spokesperson Kim Eun-hye reported.

The president has sent Interior Minister Lee Sang-min and Oceans Minister Cho Seung-hwan on the spot and stressed the need to support the families of the missing persons. EFE

co-mra/ia

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