Eight bodies were found inside a boat presumed to be a North Korean fishing vessel which washed ashore in Japan.
 
Kyodo News said the Japan Coast Guard Monday discovered the bodies of eight people inside a wooden boat found washed up a day earlier along the coast of the city of Oga in Akita Prefecture.
 
The Japanese news agency said some of the bodies were skeletonized, adding although their nationalities remained unconfirmed, the ship is likely to belong to the North.  
 
The bodies were discovered only 70 kilometers away from where another fishing boat carrying eight men presumed to be all North Korean was discovered adrift by the Japanese authorities last Thursday. 
 
The sailors of the boat said that the vessel malfunctioned while they were catching squid, adding they wanted to return to the North where they left a month ago.

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