At least seven crew members on board a fishing boat died after the vessel capsized following a collision in the waters off South Korea's southeastern coast on Monday.
The fishing boat, which had about 10 passengers, including five Indonesian nationals, capsized after colliding with the barge in waters near the city of Gyeongju, according to Kim Eul-dong, an official at the Pohang coast guard.
The seven crew members were found inside the boat in a state of cardiac arrest and were pronounced dead at the hospital, the coast guard said. The boat capsized about 270km southeast of capital Seoul at 5.43am (local time), Yonhap news agency reported.
South Korean authorities have mobilised dozens of emergency workers, along with 15 coast guard vessels and six helicopters to find the missing Indonesian nation. The passengers were rescued and rushed to the hospitals.
Prime minister Han Duck-soo earlier ordered an emergency rescue operation. The ship also did not appear damaged.
The boat accident occurred just a month after two people died a dozen others went missing after a fishing boat sank in waters off South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju.
A total of 43 vessels including three navy ships, 13 aircraft and several deep-sea divers were dispatched to assist in the rescue efforts, the government said.
One of the rescued sailors said that the boat capsized when they were hauling up fishing nets to transfer the catch to another vessel.
In September, at least three people, two South Koreans and one Indonesian, died after a fishing boat capsized in waters off South Korea's west coast.
South Korea this year marked the 10th anniversary of one of the country's worst boat diasters when 304 people died after a ferry sank in the waters.
On the morning of 16 April 2014, the Sewol ferry sank with 476 passengers and crew on board. Of the 304 people killed, 250 were students from the Danwon High School in Ansan.
