13 dead in South Korean boat collision

At least 13 persons lost their lives and two went missing after a fishing boat collided with a refuelling tanker off the South Korean coast.

20 passengers and two crew members were on board the Seonchang-1, a chartered fishing boat, when it crashed into the 336-tonne (370-ton) tanker before capsising near the port city of Incheon, west of Seoul, reported CNN.

The collision happened nine minutes after the boat departed from the shoreline as the two vessels passed each other under a bridge.

At least seven have been rescued so far and have been taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.

The coast guard said the circumstances leading to the accident were not immediately known.

"We are investigating how the accident happened," a coast guard official told reporters.

President Moon Jae-in has directed emergency responders to continue search and rescue operations until those still missing, including the boat's captain, are accounted for.

At least six airplanes and six vessels have been drafted in as part of the search, the report said.

In 2015, 15 people were killed during a fishing expedition.

A year earlier, the Sewol passenger ferry sank killing over 300 people, most of them were school children on a school trip.