Trio rescued from flipped fish boat; one dead

SHIZUOKA (Kyodo) Three members of an eight-man fishing boat crew missing since Saturday off Hachijojima Island were rescued Wednesday from their overturned boat, while a fourth found drifting aboard a life raft was later confirmed dead, the Japan Coast Guard said.

Rescue mission: A Japan Coast Guard patrol craft approaches the fishing boat Daiichi Kofuku Maru near the island of Hachijojima on Wednesday afternoon. KYODO PHOTO

Found in the overturned boat were Moriyoshi Utsunomiya, 57, from Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture; Takamitsu Nyubara, 33, from the city of Shizuoka; and Masao Hayakawa, 38, from the city of Osaka. All were in relatively good health and had no difficulty talking to rescuers, the coast guard said.

Shingo Makiyama, 40, from Shimoda, was found in the life raft about 20 km north of the island.

He was transported to Shimoda by helicopter and later pronounced dead.

The four remaining crew members were still missing as of Wednesday afternoon.

A coast guard patrol plane spotted the Daiichi Kofuku Maru about 55 km north-northeast of the island at around 10 a.m. Wednesday.

After a coast guard diver knocked on the hull of the capsized boat, one of the three survivors knocked in response.

The three were immediately transported to a hospital on Hachijojima.

The boat had gone out to fish for "kinmedai" alfonsin and was headed back to port in Shimoda around 4 p.m. Saturday when it lost contact with the radio operator ashore.