Fishing boat accident leaves one missing, one dead and two injured

One crew member went missing, one died and two others sustained injuries when a wire rope snapped on a crab fishing boat operating near Yeonpyeong Island in Incheon, the Korea Coast Guard said on Tuesday.

A Korea Coast Guard logo [KOREA COAST GUARD]

One crew member went missing, one died and two others sustained injuries when a wire rope snapped on a crab fishing boat operating near Yeonpyeong Island in Incheon, the Korea Coast Guard said on Tuesday.

Authorities from the Incheon Coast Guard said they received a report at 8:09 a.m. on Tuesday that a wire rope had broken aboard the vessel while it was fishing in waters off the island. The report was filed with the Yellow Sea Fisheries Management Service.

A crew member in their 20s from Indonesia fell into the sea after being struck by the rope and remains missing. A Vietnamese crew member in their 30s was found in cardiac arrest and later died after being transported to a hospital. Two Korean crew members in their 50s and 60s suffered back injuries and were taken to a health center before being moved to a nearby hospital. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening.

Nine people were on board the vessel at the time of the accident. The Coast Guard deployed three patrol ships, three rescue vessels, one aircraft, two Navy vessels and one helicopter to search the surrounding waters for the missing crew member.

“The other five crew members are safe,” a Coast Guard official said. “We are investigating the exact cause of the accident.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY KIM CHANG-YONG [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]