Ten people have been confirmed dead after a tourist boat sank near Japan

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The Apan Coast Guard said 10 of the 26 people aboard a cruise ship that sank in the waters of a northern national park have been confirmed dead.

The search for the others continues a day after the boat sent a distress signal that it was sinking.

The Coast Guard said Sunday that the bodies of the 10 victims included seven men and three women.

There were two crew and 24 passengers, including two children, on the cruise ship when it ran into problems Saturday afternoon near the top of the Shiretoko Peninsula.

Members of the rescue unit are looking for those aboard the missing tourist boat

/ via REUTERS

Rescuers stepped up their search earlier Sunday and found four people near the top of the Shiretoko Peninsula and five others in the same area a few hours later. Public television NHK reported that they were unconscious.

The Coast Guard said all nine people were found in the area near the top of the peninsula north of where the boat sent a distress signal. The location is known as a difficult place to maneuver boats because of its rocky shore. The same tourist boat had an accident there last year.

NHK footage shows one of the rescued people arriving by helicopter and transferred to an ambulance on a stretcher while rescuers held blue plastic shields for privacy.

A square-shaped orange lifeboat with the boat’s name was also spotted on the rocky shore.

The boat carrying 24 passengers, including two children and two crew members, disappeared after a distress signal was sent, saying it was taking water and starting to sink.

Sunday’s rescue came after nearly 7 hours of intense search involving six patrol boats, several planes and divers. The Coast Guard said the search continued into the night.

The 19-ton Kazu 1 made an emergency call early Saturday afternoon, saying the ship’s bow was flooded and began sinking and tilting as it traveled from the west coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula to the northern island of Hokkaido, the Coast Guard said.

A crew of a tourist boat belonging to another operator told NHK that he had warned of a stormy sea when he spotted the crew of Kazu 1 and told them not to go. He said the same boat ran aground last year and had a cracked nose.