3 Chinese fishermen dead after clash with SKorea coast guard
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Three Chinese fishermen likely died from smoke inhalation after a fire erupted when South Korean coast guard officers threw “flashbang” grenades into their boat, which had been fishing illegally, officials said Friday.
The latest in a series of violent clashes between South Korea’s coast guard and Chinese fishing boats venturing farther from their increasingly barren home waters occurred Thursday when a South Korean coast guard vessel tried to stop the Chinese boat from suspected illegal fishing about 70 kilometres (45 miles) from an island off South Korea’s southwestern coast.
The vessel, which carried 17 fishermen, initially resisted and fled before South Korean coast guard officers managed to board the boat and threw flashbang grenades into its locked steering room, the coast guard said in a statement. Flashbang grenades are non-lethal devices that produce a blinding flash of light and loud sound.
A fire erupted on the boat and three fishermen found lying in the boat’s engine room later died, the coast guard statement said.