SEOUL, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A 13,000-ton South Korean freighter, reportedly carrying nitric acid, sank off the country's south coast Tuesday, leaving 14 sailors missing.
Yonhap news agency quoted maritime police as saying the freighter named Eastern Bright had transmitted as SOS before disappearing in rough waters off the port city of Yeosu, about 280 miles south of Seoul.
Xinhua news agency reported the Taiwan-bound freighter was carrying about 2,000 tons of nitric acid.
The South Korean navy and coast guard dispatched nine vessels and one helicopter to the spot where the Eastern Bright was believed to have gone down.
Reports said 15 sailors were aboard the freighter -- 12 South Koreans and three Myanmarese, but that only one Myanmarese sailor had been rescued.
