'Ghost ship' with 8 bodies may have come from North Korea

  • 6 years ago
OGA, JAPAN — Eight bodies were found inside a ship found on a Japanese beach this week.

The vessel was discovered in the Sea of Japan close to Oga on the Japanese coast. The Japanese Coast Guard believes it may have come from North Korea.

A 68-year-old local resident alerted Japanese authorities to the ship on Monday morning, Kyodo News reported. She reportedly saw it drifting some 300 meters from shore.

The coast guard found eight bodies inside the ship, as well as a cigarette packet bearing hangul writing. This leads police to suspect it is North Korean in origin, the Japanese Times reported, citing Kyodo News.

The Japan Times reports parts of the bodies were skeletonized, suggesting that the ship was at sea for an extensive amount of time before being found.

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