North Korean cargo ship towing boat sinks off Japan, one missing

A boat carrying four crew members sank on Thursday while being towed by a North Korean cargo ship off Japan’s northwestern coast, leaving one person missing, officials said. The Japan Coast Guard rescued three crew members during a search-and-rescue operation.

North Korea’s Rescue Coordination Centre informed the Japan Coast Guard’s regional headquarters in Kyoto that four people had fallen overboard about 104 kilometres (64 miles) southwest of Nishinoshima, one of the Oki Islands.

The incident took place within Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The Japan Coast Guard deployed patrol vessels and aircraft to search for the missing crew members.

Of the three people rescued, two were conscious, while the third was presumed dead, according to the Coast Guard.

Authorities are investigating the nationalities of those involved and examining whether the sunken boat was associated with the North Korean cargo vessel “Kum Ya”. The Coast Guard is also looking into what the boat was doing in the area at the time of the incident.

with inputs from PTI