Two dead and 12 missing after fishing boat sinks off South Korea, official says

By Reuters November 8, 2024 | 12:58 am PT

Rescued crew members of a fishing boat wait for transfer to a hospital at a port on Jeju Island, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. Photo by AP

Two people have died and 12 are still missing after a fishing boat sank on Friday in waters off South Korea's Jeju Island, an official at the Jeju city government said.

Authorities had lost track of the boat from the South Korean port city of Busan in the early hours, the official said.

The vessel had been carrying 27 people and foreign nationals were among those rescued, said the official, adding that two South Korean nationals had died.

The South Korean coast guard had received a distress call at 4:33 a.m. (1933 GMT on Thursday) located 24 kilometers (15 miles) away from an island off the coast of Jeju, the Yonhap news agency reported.

President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered all available resources to be deployed for a search and rescue operation, his office said in a statement.