VIDEO. A ship with several hundred tons of chemicals capsizes in Japan: 8 dead and several others missing

Le Keoyoung Sun qui a chaviré en pleine mer ce 20 mars 2024. MAXPPP – MOJI COAST GUARD OFFICE HANDOUT

Ce mercredi 20 mars 2024, un navire-citerne a chaviré au large des côtes japonaises. Huit membres de l’équipage sont morts et plusieurs autres sont portées disparus.

A chemical tanker filled with several hundred tons of acrylic acid capsized off the coast of Japan, in the southwest of the country. The coast guard announced that the bodies of eight of the eleven people on board have been found, two others are still missing. Only one person survived, reports Le Parisien.

"Their deaths were confirmed at the hospital"

If the one and only survivor is currently in a stable condition, after a complex rescue operation, the hope of finding the two members of the crew alive is dwindling. As for the other eight, calls for help and relief will not have been enough. "Their deaths were confirmed at the hospital", said a spokesperson, quoted by Huffington Post.

What also concerns the authorities is the environmental impact of this shipwreck. This chemical tanker "was carrying acrylic acid, but it's unclear if it leaked into the ocean’. He had in these tanks no less than  980 tons of acrylic acid, which is "a toxic product used in plastics, resins and coatings&quot ;, details Le Parisien.

If no leak has been detected at the moment, the risk remains very high and vigilance is at maximum.

The weather conditions seem to be at the origin of this tragedy, gusts of wind were measured in the region. Earlier in the day, the Coast Guard also received a call from the 69-meter-long Keoyoung Sun, which indicated that the vessel was rocking. 60~/em>.