Photo/Illutration The patrol boat Tsugaru of the 1st Regional Coast Guard Headquarters is docked at Otaru port in Hokkaido on Sept. 8. (Takeshi Suzuki)

OTARU, Hokkaido--Russian authorities Sept. 9 handed over the bodies of three Japanese who drowned in a sightseeing boat tour accident off eastern Hokkaido in April that claimed the lives of all 26 passengers and crew members.

The 1st Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Otaru, Hokkaido, reported that its patrol boat Tsugaru collected the bodies at Korsakov Port in southern Sakhalin. 

Officials said Tsugaru arrived at the port around 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 9 and took possesion of the bodies about 70 minutes later after filling out related paperwork, and departed from the port around 10:15 a.m.

It is expected to arrive at Otaru port in Otaru, Hokkaido, around 8 a.m. on Sept. 10.

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

Two of the bodies, a man and a woman, were found in Kunashiri island, part of the disputed Northern Territories, in May. The other body was discovered in southern Sakhalin in June.

DNA testing performed by Russian authorities identified one of the two bodies found in Kunashiri island as Kazu I crew member Akira Soyama. The other was identified as a woman who resided in Hokkaido.

Russia said the male victim found in southern Sakhalin was also identified as a man who lived in Hokkaido.

The 1st Regional Coast Guard Headquarters will conduct its own DNA testing on the bodies.

Fifteen of the 26 people who were aboard Kazu I have already been confirmed to have perished in the disaster.

With the imminent return of three more bodies to Otaru port, eight people still remain listed as missing.

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