A fishing boat with nine crew members on board capsized off the southern coastal city of Tongyeong on Saturday, leaving five of them missing, the Coast Guard said.

Two South Koreans and seven Indonesians were aboard the 20-ton vessel when it overturned in waters 68 kilometers south of an island in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, at 6:29 a.m., according to officials.

The Coast Guard found four of the nine crew members, with three found unconscious inside the vessel and sent to a hospital. But they, including two Indonesian nationals, were pronounced dead.

One of the four members had been found in the waters, 13 kilometers from the location of the accident, as of 3:15 p.m.

The officials said 12 Coast Guard patrol vessels, four Navy vessels and six helicopters are conducting a search operation at the accident site.

The officials said they have not found signs of the capsized boat hitting another vessel or a submerged rock.

The capsized boat had departed the southern resort island of Jeju at 10:36 a.
m. on Thursday.

Source: Yonhap News Agency