Found Dead 100km Away After a Week: Missing Tugboat Crew Member Discovered

[Anchor]

One of the six missing crew members from the tugboat accident in Busan has been found dead in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. The discovery was made more than 100 kilometers away from the accident site. The Coast Guard has significantly expanded its search zone to the northeast.

Reporter Kim su-yun has the details.

[Reporter]

The tugboat capsizing accident occurred on the 2nd near the waters off Oryukdo Island in Busan.

Yesterday (the 9th), exactly one week after the accident, the body of one of the six missing crew members was found in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

The body was discovered near Dogu Beach in Pohang, a straight-line distance of more than 100 kilometers from the accident site.

This is the coast where the body of the missing person was found.

It was discovered by residents performing environmental cleanup activities there as part of a senior employment program, and authorities presume the body drifted all the way to this location due to strong currents.

[General Manager of Environmental Cleanup (Informant): I told the residents, "Check accurately whether it is a doll or a person and contact me," and they called back saying, "It is indeed a person."]

The Coast Guard, dispatched after receiving the report, identified the deceased through fingerprint analysis and smartphone forensics as a South Korean man in his 50s, identified as Mr. A, who served as the second engineer of the tugboat.

Mr. A was confirmed to be the missing person whom an Indonesian crew member, rescued early in the accident, had testified about, saying, "He followed me when escaping and fell into the sea."

[Rescued Indonesian Crew Member (on the 2nd): I was on top of the (capsized) ship. The second engineer plunged straight into the sea.]

He is the crew member who was spotted by container ship personnel immediately after the accident and whose image was also briefly captured on CCTV.

With the discovery of Mr. A's body, the death toll from this accident stands at 2, with 5 people still missing.

Believing that the missing persons may have drifted northeast, the Coast Guard has more than doubled its search range to cover the entire East Coast area.

The Coast Guard also stated that it has requested cooperation from Japan and Russia to search for the missing persons.

(Video Reporter: Kyungmun | Video Editor: Lee Hong-myeong | Designer: Kim Han-gil)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.