Rescuers recovered four more bodies Thursday, four days after a South Korean fishing boat sank in waters in the Bering Sea off Russia’s far east carrying 60 people on board, the ship’s owner said.
The latest recovery raised the confirmed death toll from the sinking to 16, with 37 people remaining unaccounted for, Sajo Industries said in a press release.
The 1,753-ton Oryong 501 sank in the western Bering Sea on Monday. One Russian inspector, three Filipinos and three Indonesian crewmen had earlier been rescued, with one South Korean sailor dying shortly after being rescued.
The four bodies found Thursday are presumed to be two South Koreans — Yoo Cheong-gwang and Jeong Yeong-do — and two crew members from unidentified Southeast Asian countries, according to the company.
“I will command all-out search operations for the missing crew amid the good weather,” said Sajo Chairman Yim Chae-ok at the company’s headquarters in Busan, South Korea’s largest port on the south coast.
Eight ships are involved in the search and rescue operations, according to the company.
The company forecast that the search and rescue operations to be active with the participation of a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft and a Russian helicopter.
The ship’s ability to balance itself was compromised after water flooded in and blocked a drain, the company said, citing a communication record between the Oryong and other ships.
The Oryong 501, built in Spain in 1978, was acquired by the South Korean fisheries firm Sajo Industries in 2010.
Maritime Minister Lee Ju-young, meanwhile, promised to put the utmost efforts in the operation after holding a meeting with the families of the missing fishermen.
“It is regrettable that patriots were victimized by the accident,” Lee said, further instructing government officials to spare no efforts to handle supportive measures for the victims. (Yonhap)
