Chinese Sailors Accused Of Killing 11 In Mutiny

Six Chinese sailors accused of killing and throwing overboard 11 shipmates in a mutiny were brought to South Korea and arrested for alleged manslaughter Saturday.

The Honduras-registered Pesca Mar No. 15, which is operated by a South Korean firm, was found drifting near Japan last weekend. Until then there had been no contact with the ship since the Aug. 2 mutiny on the high seas.

South Korean police took over the tuna fishing boat from Japan’s coast guard Wednesday and towed it to the southern port of Pusan on Saturday morning for investigation.

Police said that the captain and 10 of the ship’s crew were killed in the mutiny. Those killed included seven South Koreans, three Indonesians and one Chinese.

The mutineers had planned to kill the remaining crewmen, sink the ship and escape to Japan on rafts, but were overpowered and locked in a storage cabin.