[Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL -- A 9.77-ton leisure fishing boat capsized after colliding with a Panama-registered liquefied natural gas carrier off South Korea's southern port of Tongyeong, leaving three people dead and two others missing. A coast guard vessel rescued nine people.
The fishing boat was carrying 14 people when it collided with the 3,000-ton LNG vessel about 80 kilometers south of the southern island of Yokji at around 5 a.m. Friday. The cargo vessel with 18 sailors aboard, including a South Korean captain, was on the way from the southeastern port of Ulsan to China.
Coastguard authorities said that the cargo vessel was escorted into Tonyeong for an investigation. The accident took place when the fishing boat was sailing back to its home port after an overnight operation to catch cutlass fish. Two were rescued after being trapped for three hours in an air pocket that had kept them alive after the boat overturned.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
