A fishing boat of the Republic of Korea caught fire early Wednesday while at port in Montevideo, killing a Vietnamese crew member, said the Uruguayan navy.
"A charred body was found in the ship's engine room, where the fire started," navy spokesman Anselmo Borges told AFP.
He said the victim was a 25-year-old Vietnamese man who worked on the "Seo Gin 11" shrimper along with 22 other crew members from Cambodia, the RoK, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The fire broke out at 2:00 am (0400 GMT) and was the second accident involving a fishing boat of the RoK this week -- the earlier fire on Monday caused no victims but briefly shut down Montevideo's port facility.
Five ships have caught fire while at anchor in Montevideo so far this year, and another five occurred in 2009. Authorities said they were investigating them all.
"Negligence seems to be a key factor" since all the fires "happened to break out between midnight and 3:00 am," National Port Administration chief Alberto Diaz told Oceano radio.
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