Arson Victims

[Anchor Lead]

One more person has died from the arson fire in a Jongno inn, bringing up the death toll to six. Three of the dead were a mother and her two daughters, who were visiting Seoul during the school break. Meanwhile, authorities discovered a wooden boat presumed to be from China carrying three dead bodies in waters west of Baengnyeongdo Island in the Yellow Sea.

[Pkg]

A 54-year-old person surnamed Kim, one of the victims of the arson fire at a Jongno inn, died yesterday afternoon while being treated for serious injuries. His death brought up the death toll to six from the fire. Three of the victims were found to be a 34-year-old mother and her two daughters in elementary school. They were staying at the inn since they arrived in Seoul on January 19th for a winter vacation trip. Police have arrested a man surnamed Yu for setting fire to the facility. Autopsies were performed on the deceased victims earlier today to find out the exact causes of death. A capsized boat is spotted in the pitch dark. At around 2 AM Sunday, the Incheon Coast Guard found a wooden boat presumed to be from China in waters west of Baengnyeongdo Island near Incheon. Two hours earlier the Coast Guard had received the boat's accident report from the South Korean Navy.

[Soundbite] (Incheon Coast Guard Official) : "Currently trying to identify the unidentified vessel. Rescue operation is ongoing."

Two helicopters and ten ships were dispatched to the search and rescue mission. When the capsized boat was searched, the Coast Guard found three bodies in the wheelhouse. The Coast Guard has asked China to identify the deceased sailors. Once the causes of death have been confirmed through postmortem examinations, the bodies will be handed over to Chinese authorities.