Photo/Illutration Fishing boats that took part in the search for the missing people return to Utoro fishing port in Shari, Hokkaido, on April 30, one week after the Kazu 1 sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula with 26 passengers and crew on board. (Kengo Hiyoshi)

OTARU, Hokkaido--DNA testing has identified a skull found on the coast near the site of the fatal Kazu I tour boat disaster as that of one of the missing passengers, according to the Japan Coast Guard.

Officials have now confirmed 15 of the 26 passengers and crew members to be dead, but the 11 others remain unaccounted for.

The Kazu I sank in rough seas off the Shiretoko Peninsula, eastern Hokkaido, on April 23.

Volunteers, including fishermen, who were searching for the missing people, discovered the human skull on Aug. 14 near Bunkichi Bay, about 900 meters southwest of Cape Shiretoko. They submitted the skull to Hokkaido prefectural police.

They also found sneakers and a woman’s clothing in the vicinity.

Hokkaido prefectural police on Sept. 2 informed Coast Guard officials that the DNA of the skull matched that of a passenger, according to the 1st Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Otaru, Hokkaido.

It said that Coast Guard officials have reported their findings to the passenger’s bereaved family.

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