JEJU, South Korea (Bernama-Yonhap): Two people were dead and two others went missing on Saturday after two fishing boats carrying 15 crew members ran aground in waters off the southern resort island of Jeju in South Korea, according to the Coast Guard.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Coast Guard said it received reports that a 32-tonne fishing boat carrying seven people and a 29-tonne vessel with eight crew members were stranded on a rock in waters off Jeju Island around 9.24 am.
As of 3.00 pm, 13 crew members had been rescued, but two of them were dead. Search operations are underway to rescue two other missing people.
Of the rescued people, the captain of the 32-tonne boat, in his 50s, was found in cardiac arrest and was transported to a hospital. However, he was later pronounced dead.
An Indonesian crew member was discovered some four hours after the accident during search operations along the coast. However, the person was also found in a state of cardiac arrest and later died.
Of the rescued people, one member was moved to a hospital after passing out, but there seemed to be no serious health problems. The 10 others were reportedly suffering from hypothermia, but the cases are believed to be minor.
The Coast Guard said one of its members sustained an injury to his hand after being swept by waves and hitting a rock during rescue operations.
The captains of the two boats are both South Korean nationals, and the crew members are foreigners, including those from Vietnam and Indonesia.
Authorities are continuing search operations for the two other missing crew members. However, bad weather and tall waves are undermining rescue efforts.
The rescue and search operations involved nine Navy patrol ships, a Navy warship, and six civilian ships, with around 100 personnel deployed to coastal areas to search for the missing members.
Earlier in the day, Acting President Choi Sang-mok ordered officials to mobilise all available resources to rescue the crew and also called for guaranteeing the safety of rescue workers, citing bad weather at sea. - Bernama-Yonhap
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