A tragic fishing accident occurred off the coast of South Korea’s Jeju Island early Friday morning, leaving two people dead and 12 missing, Al Jazeera reports.
The 120-tonne fishing vessel, Geumseong, capsized around 15 miles from the resort island while transferring its catch to another vessel.
The vessel, carrying a crew of 16 South Koreans and 11 foreigners, had departed from Seogwipo port late Thursday to catch mackerel. A distress signal was received around 4:30am from a nearby fishing vessel that had gone to the scene to assist.
According to crew members, the ship suddenly capsized and began to sink while transferring the catch. The coastguard confirmed that two individuals are deceased, with 12 others still unaccounted for.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has ordered all available resources and personnel to be mobilized for the rescue operation. A massive search and rescue effort is underway, involving 11 coastguard vessels, nine aircraft from the coastguard, police, fire service, and military, as well as 13 civilian vessels.
