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South Korea Recovers First Body From Sunken Warship


South Korean military officials say navy divers found the body Saturday of one of the 46 sailors missing after their warship exploded and sank eight days ago.

Authorities say the body of Senior Chief Petty Officer Nam Ki-hoon was retrieved from the dining hall of the 1,200-ton Cheonan that sank March 26 after an explosion during a patrol along the maritime border with North Korea.

Also on Saturday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that the coast guard found and identified the bodies of two crewmen from a fishing boat that collided with a freighter late Friday.

Authorities say the fishing vessel, Kumyan 98, with a crew of nine, was hit by a Cambodian-registered ship. The other seven crew members are missing.

The fishing vessel was one of several trawlers searching for survivors of the Cheonan.

Maritime police captured the Cambodian freighter Taiyo 1 and towed it to nearby Daecheong Island so the crew could be questioned.

No cause has been determined for the blast that sank the Cheonan. But South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said Friday a torpedo and not a sea mine may have been responsible for the ship's destruction.

Some information for this report provided by AFP.

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