South Korean fishing boat flips over, kills several passengers

A fishing boat has capsized off of South Korea's southern coast, killing at least ten passengers. At least three people survived the accident. The vessel lost contact with another boat on Saturday, and was found yesterday near the island of Jejudo.

The capsized vessel, the 9.8 tonne Dolphin, had 22 people on its passenger list. The actual number of passengers is unclear; not all of those passengers have boarded as planned, and one survivor was not listed in the passenger list.

News agency Yonhap quoted one survivor as saying big waves caused the accident. "I was sleeping when the boat’s engine went off and the captain told us to get out and water started to fill the boat, I was the last to come outside and as soon as I did, the boat capsized."

The survivor says not all of the passengers on the boat were equipped with life jackets. He added some passengers holding on to the capsized boat were swept away by the waves as they lost strength.

The coastguard says 44 boats were involved in the ensuing rescue operation.

This accident comes after a South Korean ferry sank last year, killing around 300. In December a fishing trawler accident killed around 50.