Chinese fishing boat capsizes near Korea, with 9 missing

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean rescue workers were searching Monday for nine missing crew members after a Chinese fishing boat capsized and sank off the country’s southwestern coast.

South Korea’s Coast Guard said two crew members were rescued by a nearby commercial vessel after their boat capsized about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southwest of the port city of Gunsan.

It said four patrol vessels, two helicopters and a plane were deployed to the area to help with the search. So far, rescue crews have spotted a layer of fuel believed to have leaked from the boat, but have found no other debris or objects connected to it.

Kim Yeong-cheol, an official from the Coast Guard office in Gunsan, said the boat may have been fishing for croaker and hairtail.

The Chinese consulate general in the southwestern city of Gwangju, near Gunsan, confirmed there were 11 people on the boat and that two have been rescued, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The accident came a day after South Korean officials responded to the capsizing of another Chinese fishing boat in international waters about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from South Korea’s southwestern Gageo island, killing at least two crewmembers. South Korean officials rescued six others from that boat and on Monday were searching for three missing crewmembers for the second straight day.