Ten people found by a missing Japanese tourist boat on Sunday have been confirmed dead, Japan’s coast guard said. The other 16 are still unknown.
Rescue helicopters on Sunday included ten of the 26 people on the cruise ship that went missing in the icy waters of Hokkaido the day before. Among the ten people found are seven men and three women.
The Coast Guard said earlier that nine people were found near the top of the peninsula on the country’s north coast, where the boat sent a distress signal for the first time on Saturday. It was unclear then whether the tourists were alive.
The Kazu 1 was on a sightseeing cruise around the Shiretoko Peninsula, famous for its wildlife and dramatic coastline. It was about 13.15 local time, the crew sent a distress signal to the Coast Guard, informing them of the flooding of the water in the ship.
Officers last heard from the crew at about 3 p.m., Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.
More than 24 hours after the search, rescuers intensified the operation, using planes and patrol boats, including seven ships, three planes and four helicopters, to search for the remaining passengers.
The first rescue signal came 19 hours after the search began, with rescuers finding four people near the top of the Shiretoko Peninsula. A few hours later, five more people were found in the same area.
One of the rescued was taken to the hospital by helicopter before being transferred to an ambulance on a stretcher, NHK staff showed. Rescuers held blue plastic shields for privacy.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Sunday that he had instructed officials “to do everything possible to save them”.
The country’s transport ministry has also launched an investigation into the boat operator’s safety standards and his decision to conduct the tour despite the bad weather.
“We will investigate in depth what caused this situation and what kind of safety oversight was involved to allow the tour to prevent another incident,” said Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito.
Experts suspect that there may be negligence for safety and the boat is stranded and damaged in the water by strong currents and rocky shores.
The ministry will also investigate the link between Saturday’s incident and the previous two incidents involving the same boat, Mr Saito said. Earlier, the Coast Guard said the same boat had an accident last year in May and June.
Although no one was injured when the boat ran aground in June, three passengers were slightly injured after the boat collided with an object at sea last May.
Additional reading from the wires
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