SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A fishing boat capsized and sank off the coast of South Korea’s Jeju island on Friday, leaving at least two people dead and 12 others unaccounted for, coast guard officials said.
Nearby fishing vessels managed to pull 15 crew members out of the water, but two of them were later pronounced dead after being brought to shore. The other 13 did not sustain life-threatening injuries, said Kim Han-na, an official at Jeju’s coast guard.
She said 27 crew members -– 16 South Koreans and 11 Indonesians -– were on the 129-ton boat, which left Jeju’s Seogwipo port late Thursday to catch mackerel.
The coast guard received a distress signal at around 4:30 a.m. Friday from a nearby fishing vessel that conducted rescue efforts as the boat sank about 22 kilometers (13 miles) northwest of the island. The rescuers were slowed by strong winds and waves of about 2 meters (6 feet).
At least 30 vessels and 13 aircraft from South Korea’s coast guard, police, fire service and military were deployed as of Friday morning to search for survivors. They were being assisted by 13 civilian vessels.
Jung Moo-won, Jeju coast guard’s director of security and safety, said rescue workers have confirmed the location of the sunken boat and have dispatched divers to search the vessel.
The two crew members who died were South Koreans. Of the 13 survivors, nine were Indonesians, Jung said. Among the 12 missing, 10 were South Koreans. Jung said South Korean officials contacted the Indonesian Embassy to reach the families of the Indonesia crew members.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for officials to mobilize all available resources to find and rescue the missing crew members, his office said.