The photo taken by coastguard moments before rescue vessel sank killing five

Published on 19/10/2012 00:00

THIS dramatic photograph was taken from a South Korean coastguard boat just moments before it capsized in heavy seas during an operation to rescue 15 sailors from a sinking Malaysian cargo ship called the Shinline.

Five of the sailors died and one coastguard was injured when the rescue vessel was flipped over by a huge wave off the southern island of Jeju in the Korean Straits.

They were rescued by another coastguard ship.

Three sailors were pronounced dead at a nearby hospital while two more died despite desperate efforts to revive them.

The freighter, which was bound for Singapore with Chinese and Filipino sailors on board, had raised the alarm when it began to taken on water.

Its captain radioed for assistance, but his 5,436-tonne vessel eventually sank.

Three of the dead were Filipinos and the other two were Chinese, local media reported.