By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
A fishing boat, carrying nine people aboard, is presumed to have sunk in the West Sea Friday night after participating in search and rescue efforts for the 46 missing crew of the ill-fated Cheonan.
As of 10 a.m., one dead body of the fishermen were found, according to Incheon Maritime Police. He has been identified as 55-year-old Kim Jong-pyong.
Police lost contact with the 99-ton Geumyang-98, after receiving a distress signal from it some 48 kilometers southwest of Daecheong Island at around 8:30 p.m.
The boat was among 10 trawlers mobilized to find bodies of the missing sailors and collect wreckage debris.
Authorities said they caught a Cambodian-registered cargo ship sailing nearby for allegedly hitting the Geumyang, which was sailing around the waters.
They suspect the Korean fishing boat went down after colliding with the freighter, given that it has scratches in the bow, which indicates it had a collision.
Coast Guard vessels are searching for the cargo ship aided by helicopters.
On board the missing fishing boat were seven Koreans and two Indonesians; They are the late Kim Jong-pyong, skipper Kim Jae-hoo, 48, chief engineer Park Yon-joo, 49, Lee Yong-sang, 46, Ahn Sang-chol, 41, Chung Bong-jo, 49, Huh Suk-hee, 33, Yusuf Haaefa, 35, and Cambang Nurcahyo, 36.