Seoul: Nine people went missing as a fishing boat capsized in southwestern South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.

A report was received at about 11:19 p.m. local time Saturday (1419 GMT) that the 24-ton fishing vessel had turned over in the waters 16.6 km west of the uninhabited island of Daebichi that lies some 20 km from the southwest county of Sinan, South Jeolla province.

Among 12 fishermen on board the ill-fated vessel, three were rescued by a nearby ship, but nine others were unaccounted for despite search operations all night.

The coast guard and the navy dispatched ships, aircraft and salvage units for the search operations.