Yacht, cargo ship collide in waters off Japan

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TOKYO — A yacht and a cargo ship collided in waters off southern Japan on Wednesday, with one person sent to hospital unconscious and several others reported missing, an official and media reports said.

The captain of a 492-ton gravel carrier reported to the Japan Coast Guard that it collided with a yacht close to Hoto island in Japan’s southern Oita prefecture, coast guard spokeswoman Nanaka Yoshida told AFP.

“We discovered one person at around 10 am (01:00 GMT) and passed them over to emergency services,” she said, adding they had been taken to hospital.

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Public broadcaster NHK and other local media said the person pulled from the water was unconscious.

The coast guard is continuing the search for several others who were supposed to be on board the yacht, “but we don’t know the details of the yacht or how many were on board”, she said. /dl