14 sailors missing in S Korean waters

Fourteen sailors aboard a ship carrying nitric acid were missing Tuesday after their vessel was thought to have sunk in South Korea's southern waters. One survivor was taken to a hospital.
The 1,323-ton ship was carrying 2,000 tons of nitric acid a highly corrosive chemical used to clean metals when it went missing.
Choi Eun-ju, a regional Coast Guard officer, said because nitric acid easily dilutes it is unlikely to pose a threat to the ocean or marine life if the ship sank.
South Korea's Coast Guard and navy started searching for the ship after it sent out a distress signal off Yeosu, 283 miles south of Seoul, early Tuesday, said spokesman Eum Seung-ye. It was sailing to Taiwan after leaving the southern port city of Gwangyang on Monday night.
One sailor_ identified as a 28-year-old Burmese was found floating unconscious at sea hours later, but the other 14 crew members 12 South Koreans and two from Myanmar were still missing, Eum said.