3 killed after tugboat, pleasure boat collide in western Japan

OSAKA — Three people died when a pleasure boat and a tugboat collided in the Seto Inland Sea in western Japan on Sunday morning, the coast guard said.

The captain of the tugboat made an emergency call around 5:45 a.m., the local fire department said, adding of the four people recovered from the pleasure boat, two men and a woman had died, and the remaining person had suffered minor injuries.

The pleasure boat sank after colliding with the 16-meter-long, 19-ton tugboat off Yamaguchi Prefecture. As the coast guard searched the area with patrol ships and helicopters, one of the unconscious individuals was found by a diver inside the pleasure boat.

A dense fog advisory was in effect for the prefecture on Sunday morning.

© KYODO