Boat containing human remains washes up in Japan

Tokyo, Dec 29 (IANS) Five corpses and two human heads have been discovered inside a shipwreck on the coast of Japan, it was reported.The boat washed ashore on Japan's Sado Island on Friday and authorities gained access on Saturday, reports the BBC.The heavily damaged vessel had Korean lettering painted on its side.The police could not confirm whether the two heads belonged to the corpses but Japanese media said the remains were "partially skeletonised", which was a likely indication that the victims had been at sea for a long time."Ghost boats" believed to hail from North Korea are a fairly common discovery on Japanese shores.They are generally empty or contain only human remains. During winter, exposure and starvation are the most likely explanations for crewmembers' deaths.In 2017 a fishing crew was discovered alive on board a drifting vessel and asked to be sent back to North Korea.
--IANS ksk/