Eight people have been pronounced dead and two are still missing after a South Korean-flagged tanker capsized off Japan in rough seas, Al Jazeera reported.
The Keoyoung Sun with 11 crew members turned over on Wednesday near Mutsure Island, just off southwestern Japan’s Honshu main island, about 1,000km (620 miles) from the capital, Tokyo.
The coastguard initially said it had rescued nine people out of an 11-member crew made up of two South Koreans, including the captain, eight Indonesians and a Chinese national. It then said one, an Indonesian national, was still alive while another person, who was initially said to be of unknown condition, was later pronounced dead. Earlier, authorities said all nine found were in “unknown condition”.
A rescue operation for the remaining two people missing is still under way.
South Korean officials held a meeting Wednesday to discuss the capsizing. During the meeting, Vice Foreign Minister Kang Insun asked officials to mobilize all available resources to support rescue works and assist the relatives of South Korean crew members, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The ship was en route from the Japanese port of Himeji to Ulsan in South Korea from, according to NHK.
There was no immediate information on what caused the ship to capsize.
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