Twenty-six people were on board vessel before crew reported it sinking off island of Hokkaidō and authorities lost contact

Nine people, most of them unresponsive, have been found by rescuers after a tour boat sank off Japan’s northern coast with 26 people on board a day earlier.

“As of 11am (0200GMT), coastguard aircraft have rescued four people, local police aircraft rescued four people and a Self Defence Force aircraft rescued one person from waters or rocky coastal areas,” Japan’s coastguard said in a press release on Sunday.