Sunken Japanese tour boat searched with camera, 12 people still missing
- 14 people were killed when the Kazu I went missing on April 23 after leaving port in Hokkaido despite a bad weather warning.
- The boat’s operator was found to have violated safety rules, according to sources close to the investigation
Police searched a sunken tour boat off Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido with a drone on Tuesday but found no signs of 12 people who remain missing, officials involved in the search operation said.
The authorities had struggled to search the inside of the 19-ton boat that sank more than a week ago with 26 people aboard and was found on Friday at a depth of 120 metres off the Shiretoko Peninsula.
While previous attempts to search the ship with the camera-equipped device failed due to strong swells and currents, the Hokkaido police managed to send the drone into the submerged vessel a few times on Tuesday, according to Japan Coast Guard officials taking part in the operation.
Kazu I, operated by Shiretoko Yuransen and carrying 24 passengers and two crew members, went missing on April 23 after leaving port in Shari, Hokkaido, for a cruise along the peninsula designated as a World Natural Heritage site despite a bad weather warning.
Fourteen deaths have been confirmed so far. The authorities continued searching for the missing on Tuesday with 12 ships and six aircraft.
Preparations are being made for a deep-diving operation to take a closer look inside the sunken boat.
The boat’s operator was found to have violated safety rules, according to sources close to the investigation.