A missing marine police officer was found dead while trying to rescue a diver trapped in a cave in Tongyeong.

The Tongyeong Maritime Police Agency revealed that a 34-year-old police officer who disappeared during the rescue operation was found hiding in the sea near the entrance to the cave near Hongdo, Hansan-myeon, Tongyeong-si around 10:40 am today (7th).

Police officer Jeong Jeong was the first to enter the rescue at the 4:20 pm yesterday to rescue two isolated divers from the cave, and after installing a rescue rope, he could not escape due to high digging.

Jung was showing severe signs of dehydration while waiting for the waves to cool down in the cave, and it was presumed to have disappeared in the waves at about 1 o'clock in the morning.

The first two isolated divers were rescued. Two other isolated marine police officers were rescued today at about 1:50 am.

Haekyung mobilized 15 patrol vessels and 13 rescue workers to search for police officers, and found a body at about 12m underwater near the entrance to the cave within 9 hours and 40 minutes after the estimated time of disappearance.

(Photo = Tongyeong Haekyung, Yonhap News)