Vietnamese still missing in shipwreck off South Korea

The Vietnamese Embassy in South Korea said that in the 139-ton ship sinking incident off the coast of this country in the early morning of February 9, two Vietnamese sailors were rescued and are being treated at Yeocheon Jeonnam Hospital in relatively stable health conditions.

However, one person is still missing.

When the ship sank off the southern coast of South Korea early this morning, there were 14 crew members on board, including 8 Koreans, 3 Vietnamese and 3 Indonesians.

According to the announcement of the Korean Coast Guard, the shipwreck killed 4 people, all of them Korean, including the 66-year-old captain. In addition, 5 people are still missing.

Rescue efforts are still underway. South Korean authorities have deployed 24 patrol boats, four naval vessels, 13 aircraft and civilian vessels to search for the missing.

The location of the shipwreck was determined to be at a depth of about 80 m below the seabed and about 17 km east of Habaek Island, about 315 km south of the capital Seoul.

Initial information said the ship appeared to have listed sharply to the left before capsizing. The cause of the accident is under investigation.