24 fishermen rescued from half-submerged ship in rough seas off Japanese island, but 1 found dead

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese coast guard helicopter has rescued 24 fishermen from the deck of a half-submerged ship being pounded by high waves. One crewmember who had been thrown from the rocking ship into the rough seas earlier was found dead. The ship stalled after an engine failure Sunday in the Pacific Ocean, about five hours after it left a Japanese port en route to South America for tuna fishing. The captain sent a distress signal about five hours later, saying the ship had hit the rocks. The coast guard sent patrol ships and helicopters to the island in the Izu group southwest of Tokyo on Monday. The man who died was the first engineer.