Two dead and 12 missing after fishing boat sank off Jeju Island in South Korea

Handout provided by the Korean Coast Guard shows a 129-ton ship

The handout provided by the Korean Coast Guard shows the 129-ton ship Geumsong, which sank on Friday 15 miles off Biyang Island in Jeju, South Korea. Of the 27 crew members, 15 were rescued, including two who were found unconscious and later pronounced dead, while another 12 remained missing. Photo by Korea Coast Guard/EPA-EFE.

Nov. 8 (UPI)— Two people were killed and rescuers were searching for 12 others who went missing in the waters of the East China Sea on Friday after a fishing boat sank off Jeju Island in South Korea, authorities said.

The Geumsong, a 129-ton fishing vessel, issued a distress call early Friday when it began to sink about 15 miles off the small island of Biyangdo, northeast of Jeju, Korean Coast Guard officials said. told Yonhap News Agency.

They said there were 27 crew members on board the ship when it began to sink, including 16 Koreans and 11 Indonesians. Of these, 15 were rescued by a nearby vessel, but two of them, identified as Koreans, were later pronounced dead after being hospitalized.

The 12 missing include 10 Koreans and two Indonesians, officials said.

Commissioner General of the Coast Guard Kim Jong-wook activated The agency’s central rescue headquarters will launch a full-scale effort to find survivors, deploying dozens of divers to search waters nearly 300 feet deep.

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol’s spokesman told Yonhap that he had given permission to mobilize all available resources and personnel for the rescue mission.

Crew members said the boat capsized after unloading its catch onto the transport vessel and lifting the net, although questions remain about why the weight of the unloaded net caused such a large boat to capsize.

One possibility is that heavy floating debris may have become caught in the net. This was reported by the Hankook Ilbo newspaper.. He said non-swimming in the waters off Jeju Island has become a growing problem in recent years.