Coast Guard Officer Missing During Diver Rescue Found Dead Off Tongyeong Coast

The Coast Guard is rescuing two divers trapped in a sea cave off Hongdo, Tongyeong, in the early morning of the 7th.
[Photo by Tongyeong Coast Guard]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] A coast guard officer who went missing while conducting rescue operations for divers trapped in an underwater cave off Tongyeong was found dead on the 7th.

The Tongyeong Coast Guard announced that Officer Jeong Mo (34) was found dead underwater near the entrance of a cave close to Hongdo, Hansan-myeon, Tongyeong City, at around 10:40 a.m. that day.

The coast guard, which deployed 15 patrol vessels and 13 rescue personnel for the search, discovered Officer Jeong about 12 meters underwater near the cave entrance and recovered his body.

Officer Jeong was the first to be dispatched at 4:22 p.m. the previous day to rescue two divers trapped in the cave. He installed a rescue rope but was unable to escape due to high waves.

He waited inside the cave for the waves to subside but showed severe dehydration symptoms and is presumed to have gone missing around 1 a.m. on the 7th due to swell waves.

Meanwhile, the two initially trapped divers, A (41, male) and B (31, female), along with two coast guard officers involved in the rescue, were rescued at around 1:51 a.m. that day, approximately 11 hours after the initial distress report, and are reported to be in stable condition without serious injuries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.