▲ A marine police officer in search (file photo)
A diver who disappeared off the coast of Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do was dramatically rescued four hours after reporting the disappearance.
According to the Gunsan Maritime Police Station, a report was received about the disappearance of diver A (53), who was engaged in leisure activities near Jikdo, Okdo-myeon, Gunsan-si, around 9:30 am today (19th).
When Mr. A did not come out of the water, a colleague reported it.
The Coast Guard dispatched five ships, including a patrol vessel, a rescue team, and a coastal rescue boat, to the scene, and conducted a search operation with the Maritime Rescue Association and six private rescue boats.
At that time, it was impossible to search the accident area by air due to thick fog, but as the weather improved in the afternoon, a Coast Guard helicopter was deployed to the scene.
At about 1:40 pm, the helicopter found Mr. A, who was floating while holding a fishing net in the waters about 2.4 km away from the accident site.
Person A, who was rescued by the guard ship, is known to be in good health.
A Coast Guard official said, "The weather said the weather was getting warmer, but it would have been dangerous if the rescue had been delayed because the sea water temperature was still low."
(Photo = provided by Gunsan Coast Guard, Yonhap News)