UPDATE 2 - 8 crew dead, 2 missing after South Korean tanker capsizes off Japan

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, CHANGES HEAD, REVISIONS THROUGHOUT

By Riyaz ul Khaliq and Serdar Dincel

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least eight crew members have died after a South Korea-flagged tanker capsized off Japan on Wednesday, according to officials in Tokyo.

The search for two more sailors is underway, Japan's Coast Guard announced, according to public broadcaster NHK.

The chemical tanker Keoyoungsun had made a distress call to the Coast Guard in the country's western Yamaguchi province early in the day.

Authorities had said they rescued six of the 11 crew members, but later revised the numbers to reflect that only one had been rescued.

Heavy winds had forced the tanker to anchor and it was seen tilting in the waters while the crew, including two South Koreans, eight Indonesians, and a Chinese national, were on board.

An aircraft and patrol vessel continue search and rescue efforts in waters west of Mutsurejima, an island that is part of Shimonoseki city on Japan's main Honshu island.