1 dead, 5 missing after boat sinks off SKorea's east coast

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A South Korean fishing boat sank Thursday in waters off the country's east coast due to a fire, leaving one of two rescued crew members dead and five others missing, a Coast Guard official said. Meanwhile, rescuers were searching off the nation's southern coast for 14 sailors feared dead in a separate accident involving their ship that was carrying nitric acid. The fishing boat accident happened before dawn when the 24-ton ship caught fire, forcing the seven crew to abandon the boat after failing to extinguish the flames, said an official at the Coast Guard station in Sokcho, 210 kilometers east of Seoul. Two fishermen were rescued by a nearby boat and Coast guard vessels three hours after the accident but one later died apparently of hypothermia, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing internal policy.