Dozens missing after South Korean boat sinks off Russian coast

At least one person has died and 52 more are unaccounted for Monday after a South Korean boat went missing off the coast of Russia, according to Russian news media.

The boat, a South Korea-flagged fishing trawler, sunk off Russia's far northeastern Chukotka peninsula, the Interfax and TASS news agencies reported. The peninsula is at the very edge of the Asian continent in the Bering Sea.

Citizens from Russia, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea were said to be on board the boat at the time of the sinking.

Kim Kang-ho from Sajo Industries, which owns the ship, said it left for the Bering Sea from a port in Busan, South Korea, on July 10, the Associated Press reported. The AP reported, citing the South Korean foreign ministry, that the boat may have sunk after taking on water during severe weather.

Earlier this year, hundreds of people were killed, most of them students, when a South Korean ferry capsized. In that incident, the ship's captain and crew failed to carry out proper emergency procedures, a court later found.