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ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Chinese fishing boat catches fires during an inspection by the South Korean coast guard in the water off Hong Island, South Korea.
SEOUL » Three Chinese fishermen likely died from inhaling toxic fumes when a fire erupted after South Korean coast guard officers threw “flashbang” grenades into the fishing boat, officials in Seoul said Friday.
The latest in a series of violent clashes between South Korea’s coast guard and Chinese fishing boats venturing farther from their increasingly barren home waters happened Thursday when a South Korean coast guard vessel tried to stop the Chinese boat from suspected illegal fishing about 43 miles from an island off South Korea’s southwestern coast.
The vessel, which carried 17 fishermen, initially resisted and fled before South Korean coast guard officers managed to board the ship and threw flashbang grenades into its locked steering room, the coast guard said in a statement. Flashbang grenades are non-lethal devices that produce a blinding flash of light and loud sound.
A fire erupted on the boat and three fishermen found lying in the boat’s engine room later died, the coast guard statement said.
Coast guard officers said the three likely died after inhaling toxic smoke but that autopsies were planned to find the exact causes of their deaths. Authorities will also investigate if the flashbang grenades caused the fire.
The 14 surviving fishermen were taken to a South Korean port for questioning, according to the coast guard.
Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Friday expressed regret over the deaths, but noted the Chinese boat was fishing illegally and had tried to flee to avoid an inspection.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.
Chinese fishing boats have been going farther afield to feed growing domestic demand for seafood as catches have decreased in waters close to China’s shores.
Chinese boats have regularly had violent clashes with South Korea’s coast guard, and in 2014, a South Korea coast guardsman fatally shot the captain of a Chinese fishing vessel who was violently resisting an inspection.
In 2012, a Chinese fisherman died after being hit by a rubber bullet fired by a South Korean guardsman. A year earlier, a South Korean coast guard officer was killed in a clash with Chinese fishermen.
“Flashbang grenades are non-lethal devices”
Not in this instance, evidently.
China needs to educate its people not to tread in other people’s property–deadly consequences may happen it get caught. China dangling carrots to many poorer countries for their natural resources, China moves in and do the slash and burn and getting rich in the back of the poorer countries.
I’m not sure you can consider South Korea a “poorer country”
South Koreans mean what they say. Cease and desist or suffer the consequences?
That’s the way the USA used to do it when we were strong militarily and diplomatically–of course that was under the Reagan administration.
“Chinese fishing boats venturing farther from their increasingly barren home waters” Typical of all Asian countries, Japan must be the worstest..Like dat word eh?
Chinese fishing boats have been fishing illegally throughout the Pacific for years. Japanese fishing boats also are a major problem as they go after ahi. Several were seized by Pacific governments and confiscated.
Revenge of the Fish.