Car believed to be carrying family of four plunges into sea off Korea's southern coast

A car believed to be carrying a family of four plunged into the sea off the coast of Jindo, South Jeolla, prompting a search operation by the Coast Guard.

According to the Mokpo Coast Guard on Monday, a report was filed at 2:38 p.m. regarding a high school student from Gwangju who had gone missing. While locating the student, authorities discovered that the student’s parents and older brother were also unreachable.

Tracking the family's phones via GPS led investigators to a location near Jindo Port in Imhoe-myeon, Jindo. Closed-circuit television footage from the area showed a sedan carrying four family members entering the water at 1:12 a.m. on Sunday.

The Coast Guard has launched a search operation in the surrounding area, suspecting that the vehicle carrying the student and their family drove into the sea.

Patrol vessels and coastal rescue boats have been deployed to conduct sea and land searches, but neither the vehicle nor the family has yet been located.

Authorities are continuing the search while investigating the exact circumstances of the incident.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY LEE JI-YOUNG [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]